Coaches Corner

With us on coach's corner on KWBG, going to talk some boom girls track today as joining us is Bill Castle. I'm going to get an opportunity to chat with how the Tory Doors are doing. Of course, they just took the Don Howard Invitational. We'll talk more about that in just a second. But Bill, I kind of wanted to lead off with a nice record that went down again. And we saw it broke once. And now Malia Shivers, the holder of the shot put record. That was a real nice, I think there's something toward the end of seasons when you're breaking records, starts to feel really good about how that progress is going. Yeah, Malia just had an awesome throw. And she's been very consistent as well. But when we went to ADM on Tuesday, she broke the shot put school record. That's the second time this year that it's been broken. She threw 41 feet, three inches. And she surpassed Jen Lamar, who had previously broken it this year. So Jen placed second there as well, throwing over 40 feet. So she threw 40 feet, too. So those two have been very consistent. And their consistency is showing up big time at the end of the year. And you see them constantly getting into the 39 feet range. So that's nice to see. And that bodes well for us going in the future. And congratulations to both of us, too. They keep pushing each other. And that's nice to see. Hey, I like seeing the second place, too, Bill, because I know I'm coming out before. I even put my four by eight out on the track. I already got a bunch of points coming out of field events. Yeah, it's nice to have 18 points coming out of just one event. So that's really nice. And they've been doing that all year, as I said. And it's nice to have those points to count on. Well, and somebody else who has done a nice job of kind of figuring it out. And sometimes that's tough for kids to understand. I know. Just trying to get them to, hey, just trust what we're doing. It's going to work. And trust yourself. And Ainsley Powell, I feel like, is somebody we should really give some kudos to with that one, Bill. Finish second at the Don Howard Invitational in the high jump. Four feet, 10 inches. That's a pretty darn good night. Yeah, Ainsley's been doing amazing. Just seeing her develop and figuring it out, especially as of the last couple of weeks here. And she actually, she would have tied for first. She just had one more miss than the first place competitor from Ogden. So they both went 4-10. She ended up second. PR for her, obviously. She had hit 4-8 at Green County. That was once. And then high jump goes back and forth a little bit. But she's been doing better in practice. And when we left practice on Wednesday, I felt that she was going to have a good day on Thursday night. And she went out and proved it with that 4-10 jump. Bill, there's something when it comes to, I swear, the high jump and the long jump. And sometimes in the throws. But I swear, it's mostly in the high jump and long jump. But it always seems like there's a little barrier. And where the high jump, it's like, OK, I'm clearing 5-8. But I can't get 5-4-10. I just can't do it. Once you get it, it kind of feels like all of a sudden, then you're like, OK, then 5-foot becomes that barrier, right? I mean, at least you're advancing it. And boy, if Ainsley's able to figure that out and figure out, hey, I can get 4-10 consistently, here comes some more field of it points. Yeah, yes, that's important to have too. And her attempt, she had three attempts at 5-foot. And she almost cleared 5-foot as well. She was very, very close to that. I think it was her second attempt at 5-foot. So maybe it was her third. But she is figuring that out. And there is that barrier. So just keep that same mindset that, hey, do the same thing that I did the last time and we'll be good. Couple of relays that I've definitely been watching. And I'm sure you guys have as well. But 4-by-8 and Distance Medley have been some pretty consistent relays for you this season, Bill. And some relays that you've been able to count on for points and doing a nice job with those four girls, whoever you put out there with those four. But it was nice to see them both get championships at the Don Howard. Yeah, the 4-by-8, we've got pretty much freshman in there. So they've been doing well all year. Those four freshmen, we've re-rotated it through. We've actually used five of them. And then typically we'll have one of them not run it and do something else. But in the Distance Medley as well, we usually have one of those freshmen anchor that in that 800 leg. So we are going to take a hard look at those and get those set up for the conference meet. And hopefully the estate qualifying meet. Obviously Don Howard Invitational was the last opportunity for the girls to get on the track and compete against somebody else. What am I missing, Bill? What else kind of stood out for you from Don Howard? I know not maybe the best night or the most fun night, although I know the winds started to die down a little bit later in the evening. But what else stood out from you from Don Howard? I think a couple of things. Our shuttle hurdle is doing better. We had a good time there. Kyra Darby is doing really well in that shuttle hurdle and in the 100 hurdles. So she continues to get better in that. And I'm looking forward to her continued improvement. Hopefully we can shave a few tenths of a second or half second off of her 100 hurdle time. We had a good surprise last night too with Kenzie Klatt. We put her in the 400 hurdles for the first time. So she ran a 116, 67. So that was fun. And I think she actually kind of enjoyed it. So that was a good one too. Time out, Bill. Somebody enjoyed running a 400 and jumping over stuff. That's what she said. OK. She was good. So I think we're going to look. That might be a future event for her once Ava Hayes graduates. And so we'll need somebody to fill that in. I was going to say, because that is a event that, I mean, if people have seen what the steeple chase looks like, the 400-meter hurdles just reminds me too much of that. I mean, that's a sprint anyway, Bill. And then I'm jumping over things. That can't be a ton of fun, right? Not for me, it wouldn't. Well, we've got some important dates that are coming up, Bill. And you and I haven't had a chance to talk yet. But tell me, when you saw the state qualifying meet sites, was there any surprise on where Boone's going? No, not really. We're close to home at North Polk, so that's good. I think some of the strengths that we have are some of the strengths that some of the other teams have. So I know Winterset, Perry are both good in the distance medley. So that'll be interesting and 4x8 as well. But I think our throwers are in really good shape from that perspective. So looking forward to a good meet when that comes up. Bill, a lot of familiar teams are going to be there. Is that a good thing, bad thing? Tell me about when you have to face the same competitors, not a ton of times, but multiple times during a season. I don't know if it really matters that much. I think we know what we want to do. We're going to put our best people in the events that we feel we can be the most successful at. And then just compete. So we can compete with the teams that are up at the top in some of those events. If we don't place first or second to get that automatic state qualifying, then we should be in good shape for maybe an at-large bid, placing maybe third or sometimes fourth even. Well, I can't believe I'm saying this, but Raccoon River Conference Meet is actually coming up on May the 6th, Bill. I know we have talked about this in the past. Tony and I have talked about this in the past as well on the boys' side. This sometimes is even more challenging than the state qualifying meet. I know people will say how, but you guys have some outstanding talent that you get a chance to see coming up on Wednesday into Wednesday night. Yeah, our conference meet has typically been more difficult to place and score well than what the state qualifying meet has. So they spread our conference meet, our conference teams around to the state qualifying meet. So it helps out a little bit in those. But yeah, it's been tough. I think last year, we tied for fifth, very close to being fourth, so we were only like one or two points out. So every little place matters, whether it's one through eight. So we will go down there and give it our best shot at Adele on the next Wednesday. Bill, as always, thank you so much for some time. Best of luck for conference meet coming up, and we'll talk to you again here real soon. All right, appreciate it. Thanks, Ryan. You bet. Bill Castlegan joining us. Boom Girls Track here on Coaches Corner.