Having wrapped up her final year of track and field at R.F. Staples, Maya von Rennenkampff has no plans to stop doing what he has come to love.
An accomplished long-jumper and triple-jumper, von Rennenkampff was the school’s only medallist at the June 1-2 provincial track and field meet in Edmonton, earning a gold in triple jump and a silver in the long jump.
Since getting heavily involved in track in junior high, von Rennenkampff has found a special affinity for seeing how far she can fling herself through the air.
“I always had a natural talent for the jumping events,” she said. “It was just easiest for me.”
Being able to medal at the provincial level in her last high school meet was special for her, but it also came with some disappointment.
“I was kind of upset because it was my last year of doing provincials in high school and I was kind of going for a record this year,” she said. “But it doesn’t always work out the way you want it to.”
That record she was targeting was in the triple jump. Going into the meet, the provincial record stood at 11.43 metres; von Rennenkampff won gold with a jump of 11.25 metres.
While winning gold and coming only 18 centimetres short of the record is nothing to sniff at, for von Rennenkampff it was still disappointing because her personal best in the event is 11.49 metres.
Still, she accepts things can conspire to get in the way of a perfect jump.
“It’s just little things that end up not going right,” she said. “Your mind messes with you, the wind is against you or it’s just not your day.”
Although her entrance into track came in Grade 7, von Rennenkampff said she didn’t really start actively improving until Grade 9. After that she kept getting better and realized she wanted to take her skills to the next level.
So, in August 2010 she joined the Capital City Track Club in Edmonton under the tutelage of coach Rob Fisher. She hasn’t looked back since.
“(Fisher) acts as a really good support obviously, but he also tells me how to do things better,” she said. “He’s gone through lots of training … and since he knows every time I jump what I do wrong, he can tell me what to do right and that will help me with the next jump.”
Being a member of the club means von Rennenkampff has many busy days, besides the work involved with being a student. She tries to make it down to Edmonton twice a week for practice — an excursion that sees her leave Westlock at around 3:30 p.m. and sometimes not getting home until close to 10 p.m.
Yet all those hours of hard work are something she wouldn’t give up for anything.
“After a workout I feel amazing because I’m usually happy with my results and I know that I improved and learned something new,” she said.
While she has no definitive plans about her future in track, von Rennenkampff knows it will still be a big part of her life.
“I know it’s going to be my future, but it’s just more of a hobby for now until I know what I want to do,” she said.
For now, von Rennenkampff said she has plans to attend school in Calgary in the fall, and would like to join a track club to keep herself in jumping shape, knowing what can happen if she doesn’t.
“You just need to keep working out and not stop because when you stop you basically lose everything that you’ve been working for,” she said.
