League of her own: Street blowing away competition

Angellica Street is leaving the competition behind.

For the past two seasons, the Columbia Falls High School junior has dominated the sport of javelin in the state of Montana, winning the Class A crown by nearly 20 feet in 2018 and setting a new school record in the event in April.

Her recent throw of 150 feet. 1 inch was the fourth longest in Montana since the girls switched to a 600-gram javelin in 2002, just beating out the old school record set by Bekah Stoltz in 2005, and was the seventh longest in the nation at the time (it has since dropped to 10th).

Just days later, Street was breaking records again, this time setting a new meet best for the Archie Roe Invitational in Kalispell with a toss of 143 feet, 3 inches.

While the records are falling like dominoes around her, Street says her only goal is to continue improving.

“I don’t think about breaking records. All I want to do is to continue getting better and making longer throws,” she said. “I like how it is an individual battle. Yes, you are throwing against other people, but in the end it is you against yourself. It’s about doing the best you can do.”

Street’s journey to the top started her freshman year when she decided to go out for track instead of softball. She started by throwing the shot put, but was quickly talked into trying javelin. When she threw 113 feet at her first meet, she knew she had found the sport for her.

While she was a natural at throwing the javelin, Street still had a lot of work to do and by the end of the year was throwing in the 130s.

“When you pick up a javelin, you think this thing is so light, this is going to be easy. But it’s not about just throwing it as hard as you can. It’s really all about technique,” she admitted.

A year later, Street was accepting the gold medal for first place at the Class A State Track Meet after throwing a personal best of 147 feet, 7 inches, winning the competition by nearly 20 feet.

Street is again dominating her Montana competition so far in 2019, with no Class A thrower within 19 feet of her, though Class B Huntly Project’s Emily Pool has thrown 146 feet, 6 inches.

These days, Street, who likes to throw against her male counterparts in practice, is having to find new ways to challenge herself.

“Right now I am just setting new goals and trying to reach them,” she said. “I want to throw 160 feet by the end of this year.”

As for the attention she is receiving lately, Street says she is still adjusting.

“It’s been a little weird,” she said. “I’ve had people congratulating me and giving me hugs and I don’t know who they are, but it is cool.”