Circle Of Success: Wood Discus Throwers Leaning On Each Other In A Year In Which They’ve Already Qualified For States

Posted: April 26, 2014
By ROBERT NIEDZWIECKI

WINCHESTER — How could things get any better for James Wood senior Loralee Tyler?

On April 5 at the Ram Country Track & Field Invitational, Tyler opened the meet by hurling the discus 99 feet — an eight-foot improvement on her personal best.

On her last throw, she did something even more incredible with a toss of 108-1. It was good enough to not only win the meet, but also qualify for the state meet for the first time in her career (the minimum throw required for automatic qualification is 104-0).

Having been as far as regionals just once — in 2010, as a freshman — Tyler won’t soon forget that day. Coaches and teammates enthusiastically celebrated an achievement that “was definitely worth the seven years of throwing,” a statement Tyler made with a laugh.

But as memorable as that day was for Tyler, the following Saturday — April 12, at the Handley Invitational — might have topped it. Because that was when she found out that two of the people who have made her track and field career so special were going to share the ultimate track and field moment with her.

“We weren’t bawling, but we were crying for each other out of happiness and joy because we were all going to get that [state] experience together,” said Tyler, moments after finishing a windy discus competition Wednesday at Sherando. “That’s exciting.”

James Wood — which hosts the 20-team Apple Blossom Invitational at 9 a.m. today — will have a remarkable three people participate at the Group 4A state meet in the discus on June 6 at Harrisonburg High School as a result of what the Colonels did at Handley.

Led by Tyler’s 109-7 that was good for second place, James Wood also had sophomore Grace Greene (108-3) and junior Sarah Johnson (106-1) hit state marks. Each set personal-records at that meet.

Considering that James Wood did not have a single person qualify in the discus for last year’s Region II meet, it’s quite a meteoric rise. The Colonels are the only school in the area that has the area’s top three performers in one of the 13 individual events in track and field.

And while some tips that James Wood throws coach Jamie Carr picked up at a clinic in December have definitely played a part in the improvement of the trio — each has improved on last year’s best by at least 17 feet — Carr said the talent and determination that each of them possess is the biggest reason for their success. Johnson actually qualified for the state meet in the discus as a freshman in 2012, and Greene qualified for the state meet in the shot put as a freshman in 2013.

And of course, the fact that they have each other to work with helps a lot too.

“We definitely make each other stronger,” Greene said. “We’re always there for each other. We work well together.”

Because they enjoy throwing, and enjoy working at throwing — each of them has been involved with track since seventh grade — they’ve been eager to listen to ideas to make them better in the discus this year.

Carr has no problem saying he is no expert in the discus. He played baseball in high school and coached James Wood’s girls’ varsity basketball team from 1999-2009. He only got into coaching the throws as a favor to former James Wood head track coach and current activities coordinator Craig Woshner, who guided the program from 1995-2002.

In his first go-around as coach (Carr, who has spent a total of seven years coaching track, returned in 2012) he would just shadow Karen McCoy — a former throws coach who is now an assistant principal at Sherando — and listen to what she told her throwers, and he would pass on that information to his.

In December, Carr traveled outside the area for a little advice when he went to Christopher Newport University for a John Godina Clinic. Godina’s numerous accomplishments include being a two-time Olympic medalist in the shot put and a two-time U.S. discus national champion.

Carr said he isn’t teaching anything revolutionary, but the clinic helped him as far as supplying terminology to his throwers for different points in their motions.

At the start of practice, he also has each of them do 15 minutes of drills designed to help with balance, speed and spin before the throwers break off into individual regimens, because techniques and approaches can vary greatly from individual to individual in throwing.

“The kids were joking about the drills at first, wondering, ‘How is this helping?’” Carr said. “But in the end I can say, ‘You’re not doing the double extension,’ or ‘You’re not doing the rotation [properly].’ I’ll set up cones and have them spin in circles on their toes.

“The repetition has really helped them. [The drills] aren’t really exciting, but it’s the hard work you put in. It’s like with basketball — some of the drills aren’t much fun, but it’s the little things that put everything together at the end that make you a good thrower.”

Each of the three throwers said there were things they wanted to work on this year, and they believe the drill work has helped with that.

“What’s helping for me this year is balance,” said Tyler, whose best throw before this year was 91 feet. “I had no balance. I still hardly have any, but [Carr] has been helping me balance and really getting my feet around. Speed and balance are probably the best things that have helped me.”

Johnson was a standout as a freshman, with a best throw of 98 feet. But she changed her throwing technique as a sophomore to a full-spin style, and she struggled with the transition, topping out at 89-1.

But in her second year with her new technique, she’s a lot more comfortable. Carr said the last step of her throw has come a long way.

“I’m doing better with speed and getting into the middle [of the circle],” Johnson said.

Carr said that Greene — who with a top mark of 34-61/4 is less than three inches from automatically qualifying for states in the shot put — is definitely taking advantage of her physical strength. And Greene notes that the work she’s doing in practice has helped her mental strength improve.

“It’s helped with my head,” Greene said. “I’m always thinking about everything, and I just need to not think and just throw.”

And if it’s a meet or a practice, they don’t have to look far to find motivation to succeed. They’ll pick on each other sometimes by asking why they didn’t throw the discus farther if they have a good throw, but it’s those good throws by their teammates that also inspire them.

“It helps a lot that me, Sarah and Grace are all constantly pushing each other in a friendly way,” Tyler said. “It’s competitiveness, but it’s all super-friendly. If we throw more than each other, we’re like, ‘That’s awesome.’”

That’s why the emotional scene at Strasburg was hardly a surprise. The three actually shed tears of joy that day as well over what Tyler accomplished.

“We work hard, but we laugh at everything,” Greene said. “We just have so many funny times and inside jokes. It’s great to have people like that on the same team to help me throw.”

Carr said it’s been a joy to see how they’ve interacted with each other.

“When Sarah came out as a freshman and when Grace came out as a freshman, they both showed they could throw farther than Loralee,” Carr said. “But Loralee was always their biggest supporter.

“When Loralee was the first one to qualify, the happiest people there were Sarah and Grace because of how much Loralee has supported them. I think that speaks to the type of girls they are. They were happy for her, just as if they had done it themselves.”

Adding to their season is the fact that they’ve been so consistent.

Four days later in a six-team meet at Strasburg, both Johnson (106-0) and Tyler (104-1) achieved state-qualifying marks, though because you need at least 10 teams at a meet for a state-qualifying mark Johnson had to wait until Saturday at Handley to achieve it.

“I felt good [going into Handley],” Johnson said. “[After Strasburg], I felt like, ‘Now I know I can do this.’ Getting over 100, it made it easier to believe I can go in and do it.”

Tyler and Greene said having the confidence to throw far — and team encouragement — have played a role in their best throws. If they can get over 110 feet, Carr said any of James Wood’s trio of throwers could be a regional champion one year after no Colonels even made it to regionals, because their mental strength allows them to make clutch throws and stay positive when they make poor ones.

Basically, he couldn’t ask for a better group.

“I don’t feel like I do that much,” Carr said. “I can say, ‘Do this,’ maybe a little to help them, but thankfully they’re just so talented and work so hard. It’s been great to see their success, because they deserve it.”

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