Athlete and attorney Janis Rider always seemed busy, whether she was revising legislative bills at the State Capitol or coaching javelin throwers at her alma mater, Macalester College in St. Paul.

As a Mac senior in 1988, she was the small-college NCAA champion for javelin throwing and placed fourth in the shot put. She was one of a "dying breed" of three-season athletes and excelled in volleyball, basketball, and track and field, said Vanessa Seljeskog, an assistant athletic director who coached her. "She loved competing and loved her teammates. She really had that joy and passion for all sports," she said.

Rider, 44, of St. Paul, whose other great love was her family, died unexpectedly Aug. 23 while vacationing with a teenage niece and nephew in Hawaii. The teens' mother, Jaclyn Rose Molitor, said the preliminary cause of death was drowning in the Kona Beach hotel pool on the island of Hawaii. Rider's 17-year-old nephew pulled her from the pool after finding her floating face-down in it, Molitor said. An autopsy has been conducted to determine if there might have been a preexisting medical condition.

Rider, of St. Paul, grew up in Duluth. She coached Macalester women's volleyball in the mid-1990s and had been an assistant coach for javelin and shot put since 1999. "The athletes really enjoyed being with her. She was a great teacher and technician," said head track coach Martin Peper. "She was always a really positive person. ... She worked them hard, but they had fun."

Rider also worked hard as an attorney drafting bills in the state Office of the Revisor of Statutes, said Revisor Michele Timmons, who hired her five years ago. "She had a marvelous personality, very engaging," Timmons said. She said Rider specialized on the big omnibus bills for economic development and public pension changes.

She often worked into the wee hours as the legislative session wound down and bills flew back and forth to the revisor's office for recording in state documents and proofreading, Timmons said. Rider was also very good at preparing "side-by-side" documents that arranged House and Senate bills so conference committee legislators could see easily how bills compared on key points.

Rider also was a loyal friend, said Denise Wolff, who knew her for 11 years. Partly because Rider had another close friend with leukemia, she grew her hair long and then cut it short to donate for wigs for young cancer patients. "She was a quiet giver," Wolff said. "She gave me the gift of unwavering true friendship. She truly put others before herself and had a deep love for her family."

"She was fun. We laughed a lot," added Rider's sister. "She loved the outdoors, she loved water and she loved Hawaii."

Seljeskog still recalls the toss that won Rider the NCAA III javelin title in May 1988. It was Rider's final throw and she needed a lifetime best. "She heaved that javelin and won the competition by about 11 inches," she said. "That javelin floated on air."

Besides her sister, Rider is survived by siblings Terry Day of Spooner, Wis., and Lyle Raatz of Youngtown, Ariz. A memorial celebration will be held at 10 a.m. on Sept. 11 in the Macalester fieldhouse.