In March she will compete at the world championships in Hamilton.
She was named in the New Zealand women's team early this month, capping a rapid rise for the 19-year-old commerce student.
She got her start in the sport while attending Craighead Diocesan School in Timaru as a 14-year-old and has not looked back.
She won two secondary school titles (2010 and 2011) and was part of the New Zealand women's team which placed second in the Mackintosh International Postal Championship in 2011.
While Sutherland has embraced the sport, initially it was more of an escape.
''I went to boarding school and they had a `have-a-go' day, so I decided to do it to get out of the boarding house,'' Sutherland said.
''A couple of years into it and I'd actually won two national titles . . . and I also made the New Zealand ladies Mackintosh team.''
Inspired, Sutherland has set herself some big goals including getting to the Commonwealth Games one day.
Perhaps her biggest hurdle, other than those pesky clay targets which speed across the sky rapidly, is getting to more competitions.
Ideally she would travel regularly to build up her experience.
''You need to travel to qualify and I only did the minimum qualifying for worlds.''
While Sutherland went to five qualifying events, some of her team-mates competed in up to 12. It was a huge disadvantage, she said.
''I don't go to the North Island too much because of the money thing and I'd like to get there more often. And even Australia would be ideal. There is a lot more competition there. New Zealand is only tiny.
''You need different competition and different environments, otherwise you are shooting with the same people all the time.''
Sutherland is the eighth-ranked New Zealand woman in a team of nine and feels she could improve significantly on her ranking with more experience.
''It is just the qualifying which held me back. I didn't even think I was going to make it, to be honest, because I'd only done the minimum amount.''
Sutherland, a member of the Dunedin Gun Club, credits her coach, John Fooks, with helping get her to the required level to qualify for the world championships.
