Kayla Nelson gave her dad a chance. The sophomore thrower listened to her father’s recent shot put advice and put it into practice, but with mixed results. “He had me gliding instead of …
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Kayla Nelson gave her dad a chance.
The sophomore thrower listened to her father’s recent shot put advice and put it into practice, but with mixed results.
“He had me gliding instead of shuffling,” she said. “That wasn’t really working out for me because I was throwing shorter, so I went back to how I used to do it, and that works way better.”
Nelson’s return to form earned her a first-place finish and personal-best toss of 35 feet, 3 inches in Thursday’s Wildcat Invitational at Wright City.
“She threw for another foot out of nowhere, so that’s awesome.” Warrenton Head Coach Steve Wurtzel said. “She’s been kind of back and forth on the discus and trying to get some consistency there, but the shot is her shining moment this season so far.”
Nelson figures she needs to land in the lower 40s to qualify for the state tournament next month.
“If I keep working, I think I can get there,” she said. “I’ve been doing good.”
Along with Nelson, sophomore Jacklyn Dickey won the pole vault after clearing 8 feet, and junior Andrea Poole posted a time of 5 minutes, 53.46 seconds to win the 1,600-meters.
Rylie Cox and Lalita Andrews swept the triple jump and high jump, respectively.
Cox jumped 32 feet while Andrews cleared 5 feet.
Cox and Poole also medaled in the 400, finishing in second and fourth place, respectively.
Other medalists included Courtney Richardson in the 100 hurdles (third place), Richardson and Allison Tonioli in the 300 hurdles (second and fourth place), Emma Housewright in the 200 (fourth place) and Susan Broker in the 800 and 3,200. (fourth place).
The Warriors finished third overall with 119 points, three points behind meet champion O’Fallon Christian.
Wurtzel said he wants to continue to see improved scores while getting ready for the postseason.
He also hopes to fine-tune Nelson’s technique and teach her and the rest of the Warrenton throwers more advanced techniques, either this season or next.
“I think the more technique and advanced skills we can teach these girls, the best,” he said. “But being in my first year is tough because those things don’t happen overnight.”
Nelson said she thinks she can climb past the 40-foot mark and qualify for the state in the shot put this year.
Wurtzel said the easiest thing Nelson can do is watch Olympic and all-state high school throwers and study their pre-throw rotations.
Just maybe not her dad.
Finishes second behind O'Fallon ChristianLONG DISTANCE — Kayla Nelson completes her final discus toss in Thursday's Wildcat Invitational. Nelson finished 13th in the discus and first in the shot put. Kory Carpenter photo.
