At number six on our all-time list we stay with the throwing events and Arnprior District High School’s Louise Perrault who was a dominant force in the javelin during the mid-80’s. Perrault had a near perfect OFSAA performance record garnering four gold and one record during her five year career.
Perrault’S first OFSAA victory came in grade nine with her throw of 36.96 metres, winning by a 1.56 metre margin. What’s notable about this is that it would be the narrowest margin of victory for the Arnprior native during her OFSAA career. A year later that margin would expand to nearly three meters with Perrault improving by nearly seven metres to 43.34 metres.
The following year was the only blip on Perrault’s near perfect OFSAA record. After arriving again at the OFSAA Championships as the odds on favourite for gold, Perrault’s three preliminary throws were met with the one word that frustrates javelin throwers like no other, “flat!”. Without a valid mark in either of her three throws, Perrault would be forced to watch someone else take OFSAA gold home. “It was a tough pill to swallow at the time,” she said via email.
Come her grade 12 year, Perrault was ready to let loose at OFSAA. Of course it helped she would be performing in front of a friendly Ottawa crowd. By the end of the competition, Perrault had certainly given them something to cheer about out on the west field as she launched the javelin out to 49.48 metres to take the OFSAA senior girls record away from long time training partner Cheryl Coker and win by a massive 4.24 metres. The record still stands today, 34 years later.
Later that summer in 1986, Louise competed at the inaugural IAAF World U20 Championships in Athens, placing 10th globally.
While Perrault did not extend the record during her final year of high school, she did cap off her OFSAA career with a fourth gold, winning with a toss of 46.86m.
What stands out most about Perrault’s OFSAA career is the level of dominance she exerted in the event. In her four titles, her average margin of victory was 2.80 metres which translates to throwing 6.6% better than her competition. To put that in perspective, over 1500 metres, if the silver medalist ran 4 minutes even, the victor would need to run 3:45.07 to equal Perrault’s margin.
Following high school, Perrault accepted a scholarship to the University of Arizona where she set the school record at 59.30 metres and had a best placing of 5th at the NCAA Championships. Today she lives in Ithaca, NY where she serves as the Director of Hockey Operations for the Cornell women’s hockey team.