Plank scores gold in Senior Games

Carson City resident Rita Plank scored big at the Senior Games in Bremerton, Wash., and the Senior Olympics in Olympia, Wash.

"I felt ready (for this) after all my training," said Plank, who called from the home of her coach, Ray Tibeau, in Sumner, Wash.

Plank, 65, was planning to compete in the Senior Olympics, but Tibeau convinced her to enter the Senior Games. She won a gold medal in the shot-put competition, which she thought would be her strongest event, and a silver in the discuss in the Senior Games.

In Olympia, she won four medals - she thinks.

"We haven't seen the final results yet," she said. "I think I won the gold in the baseball throw; silver in javelin, bronze in shot-put and bronze in discuss. They haven't posted all of the results, so I'm not sure.

"But I did better than my coach," she added with a chuckle.

"She was pretty nervous at the first meet," Tibeau said. "But she was very confident going into Olympia."

Plank admits the competition was tough.

"I'm pretty happy with myself for what I did," she said.

"We're going to go to Pocatello, Idaho, Aug. 17, then to Twin Falls (Idaho) on Aug. 28 to compete. I'm ready to travel around now and compete, yes. It's been fun."

Rita is the widow of Carson City Supervisor Jon Plank, who died unexpectedly of complications of pneumonia Dec. 27, 2002.

Since Jon's death, Rita has traveled to Yuma, Ariz., and Washington state visiting Jon's stepmother. It was in Arizona she hooked up with Tibeau, who encouraged her to enter the games.

Plank said she worked out and practiced every other day in preparation for the games with aerobics and weight training.

Contact Rhonda Costa-Landers at rcosta-landers@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1223.