By Joel van der Veen
KAMLOOPS — Taking a national title at the Canadian Track and Field Championships earlier this month marked new territory for shot-putter Taryn Suttie.
But the Hanley native said it’s the natural result of the conditioning she’s been doing, and the target she’s worked toward for years.
“I’ve been training hard,” she told the Leader last week. “It was time for that to happen.”
Suttie, the daughter of Don and Deb Suttie, took first place with a throw of 16.88 metres at the national competition, held July 2 through 5 in Edmonton.
Her next competitive stop is the Pan Am Games, currently underway in Toronto. And if Suttie can qualify, this time next year she’ll be getting ready for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
It has taken Suttie several attempts to reach this threshold. She has competed at the senior Canadian championships every year since 2009, placing in second or third each time.
She said a change in coaching was a major factor, as last August she began working with former Olympic shot-putter Justin Rodhe.
“It was a change that was needed, and that’s really paid off,” she said. “And my results definitely showed that. . . I’ve seen lots of improvement since switching coaches.”
Suttie graduated from Hanley Composite School in 2008, the same year she set the Saskatchewan senior girls shot put record (13.58 metres), which still stands today.
For three years she studied kinesiology at the University of Saskatchewan, but then decided to put her academic life on hold to pursue her athletic dreams. Since 2011 she has lived, worked and trained in Kamloops, B.C.
In April she achieved a personal best, winning the shot-put event at the Sun Angel Track Classic in Tempe, Ariz., with a 17.61-metre throw.
Suttie, now 24, is currently in Cleveland, Ohio, spending a week training at the SPIRE Sports Academy before she flies to Toronto on July 20 for the Pan An Games, which will be her first international competition as a senior.
After the season ends, she’ll continue working and training, though her conditioning will stay largely the same.
“It doesn’t change too much in or out of season,” she said, adding that she reduces the number of repetitions for throwing and lifting in season so she can compete without being tired out.
Once the season is over, she explained, she can ramp it up again and enjoy the results later on.
To qualify for the Olympics, she’ll need to meet the minimum requirement of 17.80 metres, in addition to reaching the top three next year at the national championships.
Even two provinces away in Kamloops, Suttie said she still feels the encouragement from her friends and family in Hanley, explaining, “I’ve received lots of support from everyone back home.”