OLDS — Four area throwing athletes qualified for provincials as a result of their performances in zones.
The provincials were held June 2-3 in Edmonton. Results will be provided in a later edition of the Albertan.
Grade 12 École Olds High School (ÉOHS) athlete Sharlese Weigum punched her ticket with a surprise javelin throw of 30.68 metres (m), a six-metre personal best that landed her in second place. She placed seventh in shotput in zones.
“She was chasing down one of my club athletes, Dayley Reimer, who took first in javelin with a 38.86 m," Andres wrote in an email.
“I fully expect to see Sharlese chase Dayley down again and get another personal best at provincials.”
Grade 12 student Ashley Hoppins, also from ÉOHS, qualified for provincials after finishing second in zones in shot put with a toss of 9.08 m.
“It was a very close second as the (person who placed) third threw the exact same distance, but Ashley had the better second-best throw of 9.06 m," Andres wrote.
“Consistency won her the opportunity to compete again at provincials this year.”
Hoppins also barely missed qualifying for provincials in discus, placing third with a personal best of 25 m.
Reimer, who goes to Prairie Christian Academy in Three Hills, took first in both shot put with a 10.85 m throw and discus with a 32.66 m toss to qualify for provincials for the second year in a row in all three throwing events.
Liam Good, a Grade 12 student at Hugh Sutherland School in Carstairs, also punched his provincial ticket in the discus with a second-place finish after placing a frustrating fourth in shot.
“His final throw in shot put was far enough to win the competition by half a metre but unfortunately, he fouled,” Andres wrote.
“Discus was an event he took up with some convincing from me, and we’re both very glad he did now.”
Grade 11 ÉOHS student Abigail Ripco placed seventh in discus and fourth in javelin after not making zones last year in either event “so a very solid day for her and she left with goals of next year making it all the way to provincials,” Andres wrote.
Grade 10 ÉOHS student Jett Rosch finished in seventh place in discus after what Andres described as “a very rough competition for him.”
He’ll be competing in club track events for the remainder of the season.
Zones were delayed by one day due to smoke delays for divisional meets.
