Barry Wright
For Riley Wilhelm, turnabout is fair play.
Wilhelm finished second to Orillia's Samantha Buck in the senior girls discus competition on a wet, sloppy day at the Ontario high school track and field meet in Toronto on June 4-6.
But just over a week later, the graduating St. Patrick’s student pulled off a personal record (PR) of 42.45 metres to defeat Buck by more than two metres at the Athletics Ontario Championship in Windsor.
In fact, all three of Wilhelm's throws were PR's going from 39.56 metres to 42.08 metres, and then her championship throw which came on the last of her six attempts.
“It was actually a really good day in Windsor,” said Wilhelm. “My technique was a lot better than it was at OFSSA.”
Her silver medal throw there was nearly five metres short of her Athletics Ontario mark.
“It felt nice to stand on the top of the podium,” she said with a smile. “I was pretty ecstatic to beat her.”
With the triumph, Wilhelm, who only took up discus four years ago while attending St. Christopher, is now preparing for the Canadian Track and Field Championships in Edmonton early next month.
There she must meet a standard of at least 40 metres during qualifying on July 2 to have a chance at competing in the final round the next day.
“I know it will be a very strong field,” she said. “I'll give it a go and see what happens.”
Her winning throw at the Windsor event was the fifth best by any junior-aged discus female competitor from Canada this season.
But, along with preparing for the nationals, Wilhelm is also anxiously waiting for notification of where the next chapter in her academic and athletic career will take her.
“I am looking for a (track) scholarship,” she said. “I'm talking to a couple of schools in the States. I'm hoping to hear something soon.”