Track and field is a sport of inches and milliseconds.
Just ask St. Joseph High School senior shot putter Kaitlyn Jarret, who slings a 9-pound iron ball (called the “shot”) 37 feet—a distance good for first place at the Russell Cup on April 16 and second place at the prestigious Arcadia Invitational on April 8. But she is dead-set on extending that mark to 38 feet, which would be a personal record and put her even further ahead of her competition. Adding inches to a shot put throw though, is much easier proclaimed than accomplished.
“Every year, I’ve gotten a few feet further, a few feet further,” Jarret told the Sun. “I hit 37 [feet] during my junior year at CIF finals, so I’ve been stuck at 37 this year. Now I’m trying to be able to improve by another foot to get to 38.”
Shot put, like any event in track and field, is not as much about sheer athleticism as it is about perfecting the technique of the game through practice and discipline.
“The skinniest, smallest person can throw far [in shot put], as long as their technique is good,” Jarret said. “People think you rely mostly on your arms, but you have to have good footwork—that’s what gets it all. If you have the good footwork and you know how to explode at the end, then you can throw far. That’s what I practice, is getting my feet right and having a good explosion at the end.”
Track and field athletes across the Santa Maria Valley are busy honing their niche events as they launch into what is known as “championship season,” or the final few meets of the season that matter the most. It’s the time of year when players hope that they peak in their performances, whether that means running a sprint just a hair faster, jumping a centimeter higher, or throwing the shot 4 inches farther.
“Championships are what count in track and field,” said Philip Adam, one of St. Joe’s track and field coaches. “You can have a good season if you do well in, like, two days. It really just comes down to a few days, which puts a lot of pressure on everyone. You see big performances at this time of year.”
Coming up are the Santa Barbara County championships on April 23, then the PAC 8 preliminaries on April 29, and finally the PAC 8 finals on May 5. The top finishers at the PAC 8 finals can qualify for the CIF finals and after that, the state meet.
Jarret at St. Joe’s is as prepared as anyone for the looming championship events. Participating in the esteemed Arcadia Invitational, which attracts the top track and field athletes in the country, speaks volumes to Jarret’s shot putting prowess. The fact that she placed second at the meet says even more.
“[Arcadia] was very nerve-wracking because there’s a lot of really good competition,” Jarret said. “I didn’t think that I was going to place, let alone get second. That was really exciting.”
Jarret was joined in Arcadia by two teammates: senior Blake Jaeckels and junior C.J. Coles. They participated in the decathlon and finished in the middle-of-the-pack.
“They did pretty well,” coach Adam said. “The Arcadia Invitational is probably the biggest meet on the West Coast for high school athletics.”
Like any great team, St. Joe’s isn’t reliant on just a few players. The Knights are strong across all the events and have a balanced roster of dependable seniors and promising freshman. The strength of St. Joe’s is reflected in their second place overall finish in the “grand sweeps” at the Russell Cup, which totaled 64 events. Schools from all over the state competed in the 97th annual meet at Carpinteria High School.
Coach Adam lauded senior distance runner Kiana Kawatachi, high jumper Amiee Domingues, hurdler Charlie Enos, sprinter Michael Powers, triple jumper Camryn Durnin, and freshman distance runner Joseph Domingues.
“Powers is probably going to break our school record for the 200 meter and the 400 meter,” Adam said. “Kawatachi’s been running really well; she’s a solid workhorse. And Joseph Domingues is going to be really good. He’s one of the top freshman in the state.”
Now that the regular season is winding down, Adam said the Knights are coming together as a team more so than ever. While earlier in the spring, each athlete is enraptured in building on his or her individual skill, team unity becomes more of a priority toward the end of the season.
“That’s one of the beauties of track: The teams really come together when it comes to championship time,” Adam said.
Adam chuckled at the notable shift in mindset from the players during the final month of the year.
“I’ll throw random sprinters on the last race of the day, the 4-by-4 relay, and some of the sprinters don’t really train for the 400 meter and it’s really painful to run.” he said. “So earlier in the season they complain a lot, but by the end, that’s when their eyes light up. They’re like, ‘Alright, whatever we need to do, let’s go get this done and give it all we got.’ They’re ready to put the rubber to the road.”
Contributor Peter Johnson can be reached at pjohnson@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Apr 21-28, 2016.