Casidy Campbell stepped into the hammer throw circle Saturday at Masich Place Stadium and tossed the ball of steel 23.11 metres.
It was a new personal best for the 12-year-old Prince George Track and Field Club athlete, an improvement of 5.88m from her previous personal-best distance of 17.23m. As a result, she won the gold medal in the girls 12-year-old hammer throw event at the Spruce Capital Invitational track and field meet.
It was only the second time Campbell had competed in the event, which involves throwing a three-kilogram steel ball that's attached to a grip by a steel wire.
The gold in the hammer throw goes along with the three other medals of the same colour she earned in discus, javelin and shot put, and the silver in the high jump at the annual meet.
"Hammer is my favourite event, I just started doing it this year," said Campbell, who joined the PGTFC as an eight-year-old athlete four years ago. "I thought since I was really good at the throwing events, it'd be really fun to do. I'm pretty happy about it."
When Campbell first joined the club, she did everything - the sprints and long distances, high jump, long jump and the field events.
But she soon realized her strength was in the field, first tossing the discus and shot put, and then the javelin a year later.
This year she picked up the hammer for the first time. She now only does high jump for fun.
"Casidy has a lot of drive," said PGTFC coach Bill Masich. "Based on her height and strength, the hammer is quite comfortable for her and it's exciting and fun for her."
As Campbell advanced from age division to age division, the individual weight of the shot put, hammer throw, discus and javelin also increased, from 2kg in the shot put and hammer throw last year, to now 3kg this season.
But Campbell seems to have handled it.
On the weekend, she threw the shot put 7.54m and flung the discus 19.2m for another personal best. Her previous distance was 18.9m.
She also reached a new PB in the high jump with a height of 1.05m.
She said the key to success is using her five-foot-eight height and upper body strength to her advantage as well as improving her mental toughness.
"The key in hammer throw is not using all my energy in practice, and saving it for competition," said Campbell, who's just wrapping up Grade 6 at Foothills elementary. "If I concentrate, I can throw better and farther. I get nervous, but I try to beat my personal best every time."
Competing in multi-discipline events is nothing new for Campbell as she plays basketball, volleyball and floor hockey at school.
She's looking forward to competing in the Jack Brow Memorial track and field meet in Kelowna from June 26-28 where she'll compete against more girls in her age category (she was often the only girl in her division at the Spruce Capital meet) and the Junior Development meet in Kamloops on July 17.
