Wedding moved up in order to compete in Olympic Trials

It is not every day you have to move your wedding up a couple of weeks because there is a good chance you were going to make the Olympic Trials, which was the same weekend as the first wedding date.
But that is what Claire Meyers Armstrong had to do recently.
Claire Meyers Armstrong and Caleb Armstrong moved their marriage date up to June 5 because the original date of June 25 was the same date of the javelin competition for the Olympic Trials in Oregon.
Armstrong is coming off an outstanding senior track season with the UL Cajuns. She won four javelin events and threw a personal best 175 feet. That throw put her in the top 24 of best throws in the country.
Being ranked in the top 24 when track and field season was over meant she would qualify for the Olympic Trials. The list of the top 24 names were released on Tuesday, and Armstrong’s name was No. 19.
Armstrong may be the first female from Vermilion Parish to compete in the Olympic Trials.
She will leave Tuesday and throw next Friday. The goal is to make the top 12 on Friday in order to throw on Saturday.
The top three finishers qualify for the Olympic Games this summer being held in Tokoyo, Japan.
“I am excited to get the chance and experience,” said Armstrong, a North Vermilion graduate. “It is something that I never through was in my realm, but knowing that is now, it is exciting. I am ready for the experience. It is going to be a new level of competition. I am anxious to see how it plays out.”
Armstrong will be throwing against four competitors who have thrown the javelin between to 200 to 219 feet this season. The other 20 average between 175 to 185, which is in throwing distance for Armstrong.
The Vermilion Parish product took time off to rest her throwing shoulder and elbow after experiencing inflammation three weeks ago.
“It was very stiff and not as mobile I have taken a few weeks off and I’m feeling better. Rest has helped.”
Armstrong is not the first person from Vermilion Parish to compete in the Olympic Trials.
Barrett Nugent, a North Vermilion graduate, competed in the 110 hurdles and reached the semifinals.
Neal Guidry of Kaplan competed in the Olympic Trials in 1988 and 1992 in the high jump. He reached the finals in both trials.
Glenn Pere of Abbeville competed in the Olympic trials in 1974 in the javelin. He was alternate for the Olympics.