Hunter Wallster’s summer to remember on the outdoor track and field circuit continued this past weekend, as he won a medal at the national championships in Halifax.
Competing in the under-18 division, he came home with a bronze medal thanks to a third place finish in the discus toss. He also finished fourth in the shot put and sixth in the hammer throw. The results were in line with what he expected.
“I expected a medal in discus, probably, but the hammer was a little lower than what I expected and shot put was higher,” he told Lifestyles.
Wallster expects that his experience at nationals will be beneficial as the Grade 12 student at the Estevan Comprehensive School attends future events.
“It’s definitely helping with experience and calming down those game day jitters and nerves, and just preparing me for future big meets like that,” he said.
Wallster found the level of competition this year to be much, much higher than in previous years. The person who won the hammer toss set a new national record.
“In discus, this year marked the first time that the medallists have all been over 50 metres, which is pretty outstanding. In shot put, we also had the winners throwing 22 centimetres shy of the championship record.”
This year marked the final season in U18 for Wallster. Next year he will have to move up to U20, and then go to senior level two years later.
Wallster dominated at the provincial track and field meet in June, and hasn’t looked back.
“Things have just been clicking into place, technically and strength-wise, and I think I just put it together at the end on the program I was on.”
He took first place at two events in the Sherwood Park track meet in Edmonton at the end of July, and now finds himself as a ranked competitor both nationally and globally.
His biggest improvements have come in the discus.
“Technically, it came together well, although I probably put a little more speed into it, which ended up with me adding over 12 metres in the past year to my discus throw.”
Wallster has one event remaining this season on Sept. 15 in Saskatoon, and then he’ll have a couple months off before the indoor season starts. The indoor season is different, since it has the shot put and weight throw, which is similar to hammer throw.
The level of competition is strong, he said, but he’s looking forward to the meets.
