Connell’s Ashton Riner could soar to first state javelin title

There is no javelin coach at Connell High School, yet Ashton Riner is one of the top female throwers in the nation.

Her secrect? Drive to Pasco twice a week and train with former Othello and Washington State standout Christine Kirkwood.

“She is amazing,” Riner said of Kirkwood, whose top high school mark was 173 feet, 9 inches. “Last year I trained with Nate Cummings in Richland. He was Christine and her sister Courtney’s coach. He introduced me to Christine and she has been coaching me this year. She has taught me so much.”

Whatever knowledge Kirkwood passed on to Riner, she has used to her advantage.

Riner has the fifth-best throw in the nation this spring (156-7 1/2), the second-best in Washington behind Kalama’s Kaelyn Shipley (158-5, ranked 4th nationally), and both are less than 7 feet behind the nation’s leader — Madison Wiltrout of Pennsylvania, who has the top mark of 163-2.

The Connell senior, who already has signed to throw at BYU, will try to better her own school record and pick up her first state title this weekend at the 1B/2B/1A state tournament at Eastern Washington University in Cheney.

Riner will throw the javelin Saturday morning, but the competition won’t be as fun as Kalama dropped to 2B this year, taking the rivalry with Shipley out of the picture.

“I wish she was still there, that would be so awesome,” said Riner, who has placed first in all 12 of her meets this year. “We would be so close on every throw. I told her last year even though we weren’t going to be in the same division, I still want to beat you.”

The past three seasons, Riner and Shipley have met at state, with Shipley coming out on top every time.

As freshmen, Shipley was third with a throw of 124 feet. Riner was seventh at 117. The next spring, Shipely won with a mark of 137-8, while Riner was fourth at 131-4.

Last year, Riner finished second (145-11) behind Shipley (152-6).

“Throwing against her, and meets like the Pasco Invite, the adrenalin gets to you,” Riner said. “You throw farther. She helps with that. This year, the River View girl (Morgan Munson) is doing good (140-10), and there is a girl from Annie Wright (Annika Cederstrand) who has thrown 144. There will be good competition.”

Riner is the only female javelin thrower at Connell, and she has been working on her technique since the seventh grade, when her dad Wayne first introduced her to the event.

“It is fun. My dad is very supportive of all I do,” Riner said. “Pasco is 40 miles from Connell and he lets me go there twice a week. That is a lot of gas.”

Riner took over the school record last year with her 145-11 throw at the state meet, knocking Becca Lee (144-11) off the Eagles’ record board.

She improved upon that mark when she won the Pasco Invite for the second consecutive year with a toss of 152-7. She then moved the numbers around again at the SCAC East Sub-District meet in Royal City with a mark of 156-7 1/2.

The fifth of eight children, Riner is the only one in her family to throw the javelin. Her older sisters were runners. But, she has three younger brothers who have shown interest.

Being that she is from a small school, there is no way Riner can get away with doing just one event. She also runs on the Eagles 4x100 and 4x200 relay teams, which also are headed to state.

“At a small school, your throwers are your runners,” she said. “It’s a long day at practice for me.”

But the rewards are pretty sweet.

2A/3A/4A: Tahoma High School will host all three classifications starting at 3 p.m. Thursday with the 4A girls javelin and the 3A girls high jump.

Also on Day 1 are prelims for the girls 100 hurdles and boys 110 hurdles for all classifications, as well as the finals for the 1,600 meters.

This story was originally published May 24, 2017 at 6:26 PM with the headline "Connell’s Ashton Riner could soar to first state javelin title."