Posts tagged: throws

Today would have marked the start of this year’s OFSAA Track and Field Championships at Toronto’s Varsity Stadium and signifies the start of our top three countdown of OFSAA performers. At number three on our all-time list we have Carleton Place High School’s greatest javelin thrower, Cheryl Coker.

Coker kicked off her OFSAA career with a fourth place finish in the midget girls event in 1980 and would build from there with her first medal coming in her grade 11 year when she took bronze in the junior girls event at 37.78 metres.

Coker would continue to hone her craft over the next couple years, throwing a couple hours a day in the fields at the high school and venturing in to Ottawa twice a week to work with javelin guru, Bill Heikkila.

Come grade 12, the work continued to pay off as she would move up to a silver medal in her first year in the senior competition behind Fay Roblin of Prince Edward County. Coker’s improvements continued through the summer where she won the Canadian junior title and represented Canada internationally, giving a glimpse of what was in store for her final high school season.

Coker’s final year of high school competition brought along even further distances. Before even reaching the east regional competition, Coker had already disposed of the Canadian Interscholastic record with a massive toss of 51.94 metres. The mark has been one for the ages, alluding all who have followed, including the likes of Canadian senior record holder Elizabeth Gleadle. In fact, there are only four Interscholastic marks that are older.

In a 1983 interview with the Ottawa Citizen, Coker explained that it was not the distances that she was focused on, but rather the technique. “The distance will come if the technique is right,” she said. “Strength is important, but to me, how you get ready for the throw and carry through is more important.”

Coker’s technique was certainly on point as she would qualify for OFSAA with another 50+ metre throw to break the east regional record by more than five metres. A week later at OFSAA, Coker would finally gain that elusive gold medal, and with it, she added a new senior girls record of 48.28 metres. The record would stand for two years until training partner Louise Perrault (#6 on our list) would increase it to the still standing 49.48 metres, but in the past 36 years only Perrault and Valerie Tulloch (1991) have managed to throw further at OFSAA than Coker.

Following her high school career, Coker spent a year at Florida State University throwing for the Seminoles before transferring to Louisiana State University where she would win a bronze medal at the NCAA Championships and earn All-American accolades . Coker would also represent Canada internationally at the Commonwealth Games, Pan American Games, Francophone Games and World Student Games.

Following her time in Louisiana, Coker pursued graduate work at the University of Virginia where she obtained her Ph.D. She currently teaches motor learning at Plymouth State University in New Hampshire and has also authored a book on the subject. Coker was was inducted into the Lions Hall of Fame in 2016.

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.