By Chase Holmes, News Reporter
TRUSSVILLE — A Paine elementary student has earned All-American status at the Junior Olympics that took place on Monday, July 31.
Rylee Mitchell competes in girls shot put, taking home fourth in the competition
Rylee Mitchell, 7, of Trussville, placed fourth in the 8U Girls Shot Put at the AAU Junior Olympics in Des Moines, Iowa, beating out almost 60 other athletes across the country.
Her best, and All-American winning distance, was 6.37 meters.
“We couldn’t be prouder. Not just for placing in the top five in the country, but more specifically in how she performed. Often she gets nervous before competition, and we can see it in her body language because she gets what we call, ‘Nervous Jitters.'” said Rylee’s parents, Josh and Tawanna Mitchell. “We had been working with her on ways to calm herself and conserve that energy for her performance. We spoke on ways to meditate and pray to herself while she waited her turn, and that’s exactly what she did. She closed her eyes and focused on the task at hand. She could be seen pushing her hands in a downward motion and that was her way of controlling her energy. I think that was the most worthwhile aspect of it all was seeing her put into action all the things that we had been working on and discussing with her for weeks in preparation for this day. Everything else was icing on the cake.”
Her everyday motivation to compete came in the form of not only her parents, but a sign that has hung over her door since she was born. The sign reads ‘Though she be but Little, She is Fierce.’
As for Rylee, it was a day to remember and an accomplishment she had been looking towards for a long time. “I feel so good, and I am happy about it,” said Rylee . “I kept telling myself to stay calm and focus.”
