Local throwing athlete Haylin Eling is pretty happy with her performance during the Tri Province Championships.
Eling won a gold medal in the hammer throw after tossing a personal best (PB) of 45.16 metres (m), placed second in discus with a throw of 31.04 m and finished third in shotput, with a toss of 11.44 m.
The Tri Province Championships were held July 12-14 in Regina.
"I ended up on the podium for every event that I went there for; so discus, shotput and hammer," Eling said during an interview with the Albertan.
"I medalled gold in hammer and got a PB. So I hit 45.16 in hammer which was really big for me, because I've been wanting to hit that for a while now.
"And I got second in discus. It went pretty good. I was in the lead until the fifth round, until a girl from Manitoba was 50 centimetres ahead of me. So that was kinda sad, but it's OK; I was happy with my placement because I also got a PB in discus.
"And I got third in shot. So not my best, but I'm still happy with it," she added.
Her coach, Rachel Andres, also of Olds, is pretty pleased with Eling's performance as well, writing in an email that Eling "really stood out" during the Tri-provincials.
Eling has been really focused on throwing events in track and field for about a year now. Before that, she was an enthusiastic volleyball player.
"Definitely my body type doesn't fit the criteria for being a sprinter or long distance runner or jumping. And I finally found something that I was able to apply my strength into," she said.
"I always thought I was doing volleyball, because I was really into volleyball before track. But I was just so much stronger than the other girls and I finally found something that I was able to apply all my strength to which I liked, which is throwing.
"And now I get to meet a whole bunch of people who are just like me and have the exact same abilities as me," Eling added.
Eling trains about three hours a day every day.
Eling goes into Grade 11 this fall, so has a couple of years to decide if she wants to continue competing in throwing events during post-secondary studies.
"I have a pretty good idea that I want to do it. But I guess we'll see what happens, because things might change," she said.
Eling was asked if anyone else in her family is into track.
"No," she said. "My grandfather actually did do long distance in India, but for throwing it's just me so far."
