Another Tri-Cities athlete is heading across the Atlantic in late July to compete in the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Kaila Butler, who competes in hammer throw, is set to slip on a Canadian jersey next month after recently completing her collegiate career south of the border on June 9.
The Port Coquitlam product placed first in her last two events — one at the Victoria International Track Classic, with a throw of 67.66 m, and the other at Kamloops Throws Festival (64.27 m) — and won a total of six meets since the start of 2022.
Each victory and podium finish earned her a certain number of World Athletics points to earn one of six hammer throw team tickets to England, and is one of 43 track-and-field athletes selected to Team Canada.
Butler graduated Terry Fox Secondary in 2016 and during her time with the Ravens, she set two Fraser Valley senior divison hammer throw records and won four provincial medals (two silver and two bronze).
The now 23-year-old was also named the 2016 Terry Fox most inspirational athlete.
A year earlier, Butler claimed the B.C. under-20 hammer throw championship.
After graduating high school, she ventured off to Bowling Green University in Ohio to compete with its NCAA Div. I track-and-field team.
This year with the Falcons, she set a new personal-best throw of 69.35 m and won her category at the 2022 Len Paddock Invitational in Michigan. At the time, it was the top in the conference and the ninth-best throw in the NCAA of the 2021-22 season.
In her final college event, she finished 13th at the national championship in Oregon after hurling the weight 66.13 m.
Butler's accomplishments at the NCAA resulted in three All-American honours, including a second-team nod this year.
She'll now join Coquitlam wrestlers Ana Godinez Gonzalez and Darthe Capellan at the 2022 Commonwealth Games scheduled for July 28 to Aug. 8.
