Later this week, Kevin Bowman of Port Elgin will return to Moncton, New Brunswick, the site of a tremendous triumph just over a week ago.
Bowman, a thrower for the Saugeen Track & Field Club, won the Canadian Junior Hammer Throw Championship at Moncton earlier this month.
By his own admission, Bowman was a surprise winner, an underdog who launched his hammer more than 60 metres and stunned, if not shocked, the competition and spectators.
Now, two weeks later, Bowman is far more than the underdog when he competes at the World Junior Track & Field Championship, again at Moncton.
In the field of competitors, the top tosses fly nearly 70 metres, or 10 metres further than Bowman is capable at the moment.
The neat thing is that young Bowman, heading to Grade 12 at Saugeen District in Port Elgin this Fall, while aware of slim chances, is overjoyed at this huge opportunity to meet the best Hammer hurlers in his age group.
Actually, Kevin Bowman is younger than the field, by almost two years in some cases, and based on his progress over the last year, he holds a confident belief that he can add 10 metres over the next two years and be far more than an underdog come 2012.
I’m Fred Wallace