All girl throwers have gotten a chance to experience new things and make many new memories. The girls throwing team has six girls but only five get to compete at an event. The girls must throw farther than each other in order to be eligible to compete in the next meet. If they are unlucky then they can always get another chance next time. Everyone has been improving in form, technique, and strength with the help of coach Haegele, coach Smith, and the other throwers. There is still a long time before the season ends and many more improvements are being made every second to the girls throwing team.
Freshman Alaena Cox joined girls throwing in seventh grade and has decided to continue doing it through high school. She throws javelin and discus and her current personal records are 52 feet and one inch in javelin and 50 feet and four and a half inches in discus.
On Friday, April 12, track and field had a Tulpehocken invitational that they attended, Alaena does not believe that she performed to the best of her ability because two of the three throws did not count because they did not make it to the first line. Alaena was pretty upset that the meet did not turn out the way she had hoped, but she is not giving up yet. Alaena hopes to throw farther to set her records higher and get stronger for her other sports like field hockey and basketball. Alaena decided to throw because she found out running is her thing and it seemed like a lot of fun. She does believe that it is fun and that the conversations and jokes in track make it all exciting. She recommends trying it because it will be a whole new experience that is definitely worth it.
Freshman Eliana Benson throws shot, discus, and javelin for the high school track and field team. Her current personal records are 21 feet and six inches in shot, 54 feet and ten and a half inches in discus, and 31 feet and 11 inches in javelin. She hopes to throw past those records at the next meet. Eliana decided to join throwing because she says she can not run and that she wanted to build more muscle. She loves being in all the weird but funny conversations that go on during practice and passing her personal records even if it by a single centimeter. Eliana thinks that all her teammates are cool and funny, but mostly the girls. Eliana says she has become acquainted with everyone on the team but believes that Kaitlyn Mengel and she have been growing the most. At the Tulpehocken meet she does not believe she performed very well. Eliana says that it was because of the wind and how cold her hands and fingers had gotten. Eliana would like to have a team dinner at some point with all the throwers just to have fun.
Senior Alexia Ewing is throwing javelin, shot put, and discus her final year of throwing. She has reached a personal record of 32 feet and seven inches in shot this year. She hopes to go to states for shot this year and hopefully get a medal to hang around her neck. Allexia originally wanted to stay in shape for basketball when she first joined track but enjoyed throwing so much she came back and made it her main sport. Her favorite memory from track is going to districts last year, she encourages others to join track and make it to districts themselves. She is headed to Bloomsburg for nursing after high school to hopefully become a nurse in the future.
All the throwers work insanely hard to reach their goals and be the people they are today. The season is coming to an end faster than anticipated but the improvements from every single track athlete has been substantial. Good luck to all the seniors graduating and all the athletes returning next year to reach greater goals.
