Jinaye Shomachuk is aiming high. The Lethbridge Pronghorns track and field athlete qualified for the U Sports Championship in both shot put and weight throw.
It’s that second event where Shomachuk is really making noise.
“Jinaye has had a really good season so far,” said Pronghorns track and field head coach Lawrence Steinke. “She’s been improving almost every meet.”
Last month, Shomachuk took home gold at Canada West Championships with a weight throw of 18.9 metres.
That toss was 2.82 metres further than the second place throw and smashed Shomachuk’s 16.63 metres at the same event last year.
“I’m a lot more comfortable this year and even with my own team, the atmosphere and just the support from everyone is huge,” Shomachuk said.
Both athlete and coach believe her mindset is a big part of Shomachuk’s improvement.
“My coach pointed out to me last year that I’m too much in my head,” Shomachuk said. “This year, my goal was to work on my psychological game when it came to competition.”
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“Having confidence in what she was doing, getting into the circle each and every time made a huge difference and a lot of that just comes from being technically sound in every training session,” said Steinke.
Shomachuk has already had success at the national level.
At last year’s U Sports Championships, she threw what at the time was a personal best of 18 metres to earn silver.
Already out-throwing that distance, Steinke is confident Shomachuk can improve her performance.
“We’ll expect if she has a really good time at national championships, she’ll throw even farther and push eventually for a new U Sports record,” Steinke said.
“It would be great to get the U Sports record, but I’m going little steps at a time, so 19 metres is my goal,” said Shomachuk.
The current record is 19.66 metres, set by former Pronghorn Kate Forbes in 2005.
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