Local throwing athlete Haylin Eling and her coach Rachel Andres managed to do well during the Chinook Throws Gala in Lethbridge despite some pretty awful weather.
The event was held May 17-19.
"Three days of throwing in the cold and rain over the long weekend," Andres wrote in an email to the Albertan.
"We knew it would be pretty bad when we left, but that is the way track meets are in Alberta sometimes. This Lethbridge meet is always over May long weekend and is almost always horrid weather."
In spite of those conditions, Eling, a Grade 10 student, extended her personal best in hammer throw by another three metres, throwing it 43.25 metres (m).
She did well in discus too, throwing 27.96 m.
Andres called that Eling's "best throw of the weekend, which was close to her current personal best."
Andres did pretty well in discus too, throwing for 55.14 m "which also happens to be the best throw I’ve ever done in Lethbridge," she wrote.
From May 11-12, Andres and several members of her Velites Track Club competed in the Calgary Spring Challenge track meet.
Eling finished first in shotput with a throw of 11.72 m.
"She was over a metre above second place," Andres wrote.
Eling also placed first in the discus throw with a 28.40 m — a personal best. She finished fourth in javelin with a throw of 27.08 m.
Eling's biggest improvement came in the hammer throw competition where she placed second with a toss of 39.53 m, a 10-metre improvement over her previous best throw.
Josiah Doerksen, also a member of the Olds Velites, competed in shotput, discus and javelin after having practised with Andres for only two weeks.
"He has made great improvements in such a short time, and I expect he will be winning medals by this same time next year," she wrote.
Andres competed in that meet as well.
"My discus followed 15 hours of coaching within 22 hours, so I did not do as well as I would have liked, only throwing a 53.08 metres, ( but) still placed first," she wrote.
On May 15, Velites athletes participated in the Chinook's Edge School Division Senior High School Divisionals in Didsbury.
Eling dominated in all of her events placing first in discus, shotput and javelin.
Grade 12 student Riley Franke had a strong meet there too.
He won the shotput competition by throwing a personal best of 11.55 m, beating his nearest rival by more than a metre. He also finished second in discus with another personal best of 27.96 m.
