By Colin Budd

Winters will no longer be spent throwing replica javelins and doing monotonous drills in the Lloyd Comp gymnasium for Jaimee Springer.
Instead the local track star is heading to the southern U.S. after being recruited for a full scholarship to attend Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, Louisiana, where she’ll be able to train year round at the sport she loves.
The 18-year-old had planned on staying a little closer to home but after a season which saw the javelin thrower take home her second straight silver at Alberta high school provincials and finish fourth in Canadian World Junior qualifying, she was catching people’s attention.
“About early May is when I got a call (from a recruiter) and I kind of ditched all my plans for Canadian university,” said Springer, who will be majoring in athletic therapy. “I was like, I’m focussed on this and this is what I’m going to do.”
That recruiter led her to Nicholls State University and after some conversations with the coach and finding an academic fit, she will be suiting up as a Colonel when classes begin Aug. 18. Plans had changed.
“It has a really good track program,” said Springer. “The coach is a really good throws coach, which is good for me. I know their javelin program is really strong, so I know when I go down there the experience for me is going to be really good because there are other girls that have been there before and know what they’re doing.”
Springer is the first member of the Split City Sonics, her club team, to jump directly to an NCAA program from high school. She gave a lot of credit to her coach with the Sonics, Karl Meissner, and her Barons’ coach Mandi Tuplin for developing her to the level she’s at today.
“They’ve really helped a lot, ever since Grade 10,” said Springer. “It’s been a learning curve for me and with Karl and Mandi Tuplin, they’ve just helped me out a lot and given me lots of good pointers, and all the meets I’ve went to and everything have really paid off.”
“She’s got such tenacity,” said Meissner, who was putting Springer through some final paces on Thursday before she boards a plane next week. “You have to be aggressive with the stick when you start throwing it. She’ll admit it, she’s a different person on the runway, it’s not the Jaimee you see sitting here.”
That work ethic combined with a natural athletic ability – she also plays competitive softball – were a winning mix of ingredients.
“It kind of clicked (right away),” said Meissner. “She was an all around athlete at the time, long jump, sprinting, dabbling in javelin, but we knew that she was a really good fastball player and had a good arm.”
So good in fact that last year Springer was chosen for Legion Nationals in Moncton and the Canada Summer Games in Charlottetown, placing fourth at both events.
She’ll be looking to parlay all that experience and the valuable lessons learned at Armstrong Field into a successful career down south, where she says she’s just hoping to improve early on.
“Do my best and see what will happen. And hopefully throw a PB and reach that 45 metres my first year,” she said.