Eastern WA Olympic hopeful heads to U.S. Track & Field championships after NCAA win

It’s been almost two weeks since Connell High School graduate Ashton Riner won the women’s javelin title at the NCAA Track and Field Championships.

The celebration was short and sweet because Riner will compete Thursday in the 2022 Toyota USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships in Eugene.

“I celebrated with my family,” Riner said. “There were about 20 family members there. That was super fun. Everyone was texting me. And then I had to put my head back down and get back to work.”

At the NCAA Championships on June 9, Riner popped her winning toss on the event’s very first throw, at 191 feet, 1 inch.

Riner added throws of 187-1 and 182-7 to finish her semifinal heat. In the finals, she threw a 177-4, scratched on her second toss, and finished with a 176-9.

Maddie Harris of Nebraska got close with a throw of 189-3 on her third toss. But Riner had the title from the start.

Now Riner enters the national championships this week with the fourth-best throw in the entire nation.

The NCAA title was vindication for Riner after last season, where she failed to get out of regionals despite having one of the better throws during the regular season among all college athletes.

“So last year, I got pretty sick,” said Riner. “I like to compete at 160 pounds. But by regionals I was down 30 pounds. I went from throwing 55 meters (180 feet) in practice to 45 meters (147 feet).”

For a while, she couldn’t figure out what was happening. Then her husband — BYU tight end Lane Lunt — pointed out what may have been the obvious.

“My husband told me I should track how much I was eating each day,” Riner said. “And I figured out I was taking in 500 calories a day.”

It turns out Riner was so busy with her days that she wasn’t making time to eat.

“I’m kind of like my mom in that I don’t really eat that much,” she said. “My husband and I got into the kitchen, and we dialed down our nutrition.”

That meant more wholesome food, leaner cuts of protein, fruits and vegetables.

The fast food has gone by the wayside — for the most part. She’ll still go to McDonald’s or grab a pizza every once in a while.

But overall, Riner and Lunt have made better eating habits a lifestyle.

“During the season, I now take in 2,300 to 2,500 calories a day,” Riner said. “Right now, I’m back to 1,900 calories a day.”

So Riner has gained back those lost 30 pounds, except she has more muscle after eating right.

Now, throw in the physicality it takes to become an elite athlete, and Riner is on her way up to the top.

The dedication for Riner to her sport has always been there.

Most days, she’ll practice with the team between 60 and 90 minutes each day.

“Then I’ll spend one hour a day in the weight room,” she said. “And then, my husband and I go back to the gym and work out 1 to 2 hours a night.”

She tells the story of earlier this season, when she fired the javelin over 198 feet.

“My dad (Connell teacher and coach Wayne Riner) said to me ‘Looks like someone found the weight room. I said ‘No. Someone found the kitchen.’”

There’s always been that marketing and media thing about how women should be small, and look like thin models.

“I hate social media,” she said. “There are little girls who look at that stuff.”

But Riner likes where she’s at at 160 pounds. It’s healthy, and she’d like to inspire younger girls.

“I have a sister who is 5-3, and another sister who is 5-7 and 100 pounds,” Ashton said. “I came along as a bigger kid (of eight Riner siblings), and I’m 5-10. That was kind of hard. But I had to just get over it. I look good at 160.”

Riner’s plan still involves making the United States Olympic team for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

After this week’s meet in Eugene, it’ll be time to relax for a while.

“I’ll have a long offseason until March,” she said. “I’m burned out. I’ve been training hard.”

She and Lunt just celebrated their one-year wedding anniversary with a trip to Park City.

A senior, Riner just found out that she will be eligible for one final season at BYU.

“My sophomore year I got one meet in before I tore my ACL in my shoulder and had to have Tommy John surgery,” she said. “I literally found out last Friday I’m getting another year.”

That’s another year to become NCAA champ again and continue on in her Olympic journey.

More NCAA track news

• WSU’s Mitch Jacobson (Walla Walla) cleared a personal-best 7 feet, 3 inches, at the NCAA’s to place fifth in the men’s high jump on June 10.
• BYU’s Kenneth Rooks (College Place) placed sixth in the men’s 3000-meter steeplechase with a time of 8:22.56. That was a personal best for Rooks, and like Riner, he’ll be competing at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships this week.

Nike Outdoor Nationals

Dash Sirmon, who graduated from Walla Walla High School earlier this month, became the boys high school national javelin champion last weekend at the Nike Outdoor Nationals in Eugene.

Sirmon, who will throw the javelin collegiately at the University of Washington, won the event with a throw of 221 feet, 1 inch.

Sirmon also placed fourth in the boys long jump, with a leap of 23 feet, 4 inches.

There were a few more area athletes who shined at nationals:

• Kamiakin grad Isaac Teeples finished his high school career by placing second in the boys’ 1-mile run GARMIN Championships, finishing 4 minutes, 9.21 seconds. Only Connor McCormick of Erie, Colo., finished ahead of Teeples, who is headed to Brigham Young University in the fall. McCormick crossed the finish line in 4:08.59.
• Hermiston grad Caden Hottman placed second in the boys hammer throw, with a toss of 204-8. Jeremiah Nubbe, of Rainier High School, won the event with a toss of 236-3.
• Hanford High grad Katelynn Gelston — who will compete this coming school year for Oregon State University — placed fifth in the girls discus and javelin events. Gelston fired the discus 145 feet, 2 inches; she tossed the javelin 147 feet, 1 inch.
• Hermiston graduate Bailey Young (who will compete at Eastern Washington University) finished fifth in the girls shot put with a toss of 45 feet, 9 inches.
• Walla Walla senior-to-be Brody Hartley finished 11th in the boys 2-mile run GARMIN championship, with a time of 9 minutes, 3.78 seconds.
• In the boys’ 1-mile freshman run, Hermiston’s Jaysen Rodriguez placed fourth with a time of 4:26.81.