Here is the story on Bonners Ferry's
Victoria Rae,
Idaho's new 3-A State Champion in Shot Put |
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June 14, 2018 |
Bonners Ferry High School sophomore Victoria Rae
topped all throwers in shot put at the Idaho
State Track and Field Championships held at
Middleton on May 18-19, earning her place as the
3-A Idaho State Champion for shot put. In
addition to her state championship, she won a
second place medal at State for discus.
Knowing that Boundary County would want to know
more about our State Champion in Track and
Field, we were able to track Victoria down and
learn about this remarkable young women who
works hard at her sport and in academics.
She began throwing shot put and discuss during
middle school, back in the seventh grade, and
has continued working and improving over the
past four years. She increased the intensity of
her focus on throwing once she entered high
school, adding regular weight lifting to build
strength. “I wanted to ensure that I was at my
strongest once track season came along and to
remain strong all season,” she explained.
This past winter she worked at refining her
technique, training with Bart Templeman at the
Ironwood Throwers facility in Rathdrum. She felt
this additional coaching helped her improve even
more. “I was not only able to release the
implement at full power, but also to further
enhance my footwork skills that would later aid
me in earning the state title.”
Victoria is no stranger to the competition at
State. She placed third at State last year as a
freshman. “I strongly believe that once I had a
taste of state competition and was able to stand
on the podium, it sparked a passion that made me
crave more success,” she said. As a freshman,
she was also named 2017 Newcomer of the Year for
the Badger track team.
This year she qualified for the State meet by
placing first at Districts for both shot put and
discus. Overall, she had a good year in Track
and Field, and was named as Most Valuable
Teammate, having earned 159 team points on the
season, the most for a girl on the team.
(Story continues below these
photographs)
At the State Tournament, Victoria was competing
with talented throwers and District champions
from all over Idaho. Shot put and discus were
both very competitive, but in the end in both
events it came down to a close competition
between Bonners Ferry sophomore Victoria Rae and
a senior from Sugar-Salem, Celina Adams. Celina
Adams won first place in discus with Bonners
Ferry's Victoria Rae close behind. In the shot
put, the same two were competing at the top,
with all other throwers at least two feet or
more behind in their distances.
“It was very intense!” Victoria said. “Just a
few hours earlier, the same senior had taken the
state title in discus. It was also her birthday
so she was fired up and ready to fight in
shotput.
“I gave her quite the fight in discus as well.
My farthest discus throw was 8 inches behind her
farthest, which is very close when throwing
discus. Once we got to shotput, I could tell
that she wanted to be a double state champion.
She put up quite a fight and beat her previous
personal record by almost 2 feet, which is a
long way in shot put. But I fought harder and
outthrew her. We actually became really good
friends that day. Throwers can't really be
‘enemies’ since we have no way of affecting our
opponent's throws, we're all friends!”
Victoria's first place shot put throw at state
was 37-09.
Overall, Victoria felt like she had a great
experience at the State Track and Field
Championships. “I look forward to track every
year, but I really look forward to state track
near the end of the season. It is such an
amazing experience full of
amazing people. State track is such a different
atmosphere than any other meet. Not only are the
events run like a tight ship, but the people who
attend are passionate about their events and can
relate to each other. State also brings out the
best in a team. The people who went to state
from our team are the people who hold the entire
team together. Through their actions they uphold
the Bonners Ferry High School mantra to "Be a
Badger!"
And it sounds like she enjoys very much her
fellow BFHS Track and Field team members, 10 of
whom were able to attend the State Meet with
her. “The bus ride down was one of the funniest
and most joyful trips I have ever been on,” she
said. We also had a blast hanging out in the
tent between events to beat the heat. This
year's state athletes was a fun group full of
good-hearted kids.”
Outside of track and field, Victoria
participates also in volleyball. She has played
volleyball for six years, and was on the BFHS
Varsity volleyball team last season, a team that
won the District championship and participated
in the State volleyball tournament.
She clearly is a hard worker in her sports
participation, but works hard academically,
also. Through her first two years of high
school, she is a straight A, 4.0 student. Her
coursework has included advanced classes such as
Chemistry, Honors English, and Algebra II. She
has taken a dual credit Medical Terminology
class through the College of Southern Idaho. And
she has additional advanced classes at BFHS and
dual credit courses coming up on the horizon
during her coming years at school.
She plans to continue on to college, and at this
time is considering a career as an occupational
therapist.
Victoria Rae has two mmore years to go in her
sports and academic career at Bonners Ferry High
School. It will be great to follow and see
upcoming achievements in store for her in both
of those areas over the next couple of years.
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