Shot-putter sets her sights on OFSAA title
Adam Scott student Heather Humphrey has already smashed four records so far
Heather Humphrey, a Grade 10 student at Adam Scott Collegiate, has broken four records this season in shotput, and that’s only made her more determined to win OFSAA this week.
“She broke the record at Kawartha, at COSSA and at East Regionals, all that over five weeks” said coach Roger Jenkins. “She won the Durham Classic, which is a huge meet with 1,600 athletes from 66 different schools.”
Not only did Humphrey break records at each championship that she competed in, but she also threw further each time, which Jenkins said is rare for a shot-putter.
She has been competing in shotput since she was in Grade 5 at Chemong Public School.
Once she entered Grade 9 at Adam Scott, Humphrey became more serious about the sport and worked diligently to perform to the best of her ability.
“In grade nine it was hard, but I stuck with it, and its good competition,” Humphrey said.
Humphrey has been training since the beginning of February, starting with weights and circuit-based drills inside, and once the weather became warmer the track team was able to move their practice outside for the rest of the season.
“We do a set warm up as a team where we really coach them and nitpick,” Jenkins said. “Then they have a list of drills, we call them progressions, that Athletics Ontario made, and the kids just follow that.”
April is the beginning of competitive season for track and field athletes and Humphrey now practises with the team three times a week. Fitting in two shotput progression workouts and a weight training day can be tough, especially when Humphrey balances it with her other responsibilities and her academics.
“She’s disciplined and she’s a great student,” said Jenkins, adding that Humphrey maintained consistently high marks during her first two years at Adam Scott.
In addition to her accomplishments as a shot-putter, Humphrey also plays hockey and lacrosse for Adam Scott and sits on the student council. Outside of school, Humphrey also plays hockey for the Ennismore Eagles.
Humphrey will be competing in OFSAA this Friday afternoon. Going to Ottawa for her second time, Humphrey is determined to deliver her best performance, and avoid the same challenges that she encountered last year.
“I’m going to try and not psych myself out like I did last year,” Humphrey said. “Last year I was very cocky and thought I was going to win, so I wasn’t in the headspace to compete.”
Once OFSAA is over Humphrey will be done shotput for the remainder of the year. She said she’s committed to the sport for the rest of her time at Adam Scott. After high school however, Humphrey is now considering pursuing shotput while in college or university.
“I wasn’t planning on it, but as I’m getting better, I see that I could actually go if I kept working at it,” Humphrey said.