OLDS — Throwing coach Rachel Andres and her athletes have obtained some great results as they prepare for a meet June 11 in Calgary.
However, Andres believes she can do better yet.
Tentative plans call for six athletes to make the trip there along with Andres: Alexis Johnson, Audrey Veilleux, Abigail Ripco, Liam Banks, Natalie Harrison and Jett Rosch.
However, as of mid-week, some hadn’t confirmed their attendance.
On May 28, Andres and Abigail Ripco drove up to St. Albert for the St Albert Classic.
“The drive was worth it for Abigail as she came away with a new personal best in javelin of 27.83 metres (m) and a fourth place finish against the best javelin throwers in Alberta,” Andres wrote in an email.
However, the meet was a frustrating one for Andres.
She threw 50.10 m to take first place in discus but she knows she could have done far better than that.
“I remembered the ring being slick from last year, but it was more slippery than I remembered and my style of throwing requires some good ring grip," Andres wrote in an email.
Her goal this year is to get her distances back up to where they were before she had a baby. She’s hoping she can get further toward that goal during the meet in Calgary.
While Andres and Ripco were competing in St. Albert, another local athlete, Dayley Reimer, competed that same day at Gord’s Meet in Calgary.
“She threw a new personal best in shot (put) of 11.44 m to take third which puts her only six centimetres away from the automatic qualification standard for Nationals,” Andres wrote.
“She also threw javelin, taking second with a 36.07 m.”
