State Preview: Blake Adams prepares for state shot put debut
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
(Editor’s note: Hillsboro and McClain state track and field features will be posted later in the week.)
Four years of patience, perseverance and practice have landed Fairfield junior Blake Adams in Columbus this upcoming weekend, competing in the Division III OHSAA Track and Field Championships in the girls shot put event against 15 others in the top state event of the season.
Adams, who is the first female athlete to qualify for the state track and field championships in school history, is a three-time Southern Hills Athletic Conference champion with a personal best throw of 38.09 earlier this season. Headed into the final event of the spring season, nothing has come easy or with much rest for the three-sport varsity athlete and Academic All-Ohio honoree.
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In the past school year, Adams has lettered in varsity volleyball, basketball and track and field, plus during the winter she not only played on a district-qualifying basketball team for the Lady Lions where she averaged 7.4 points per game (during the regular season), but she also competed and worked on her shot put craft during indoor track. Then, during this spring, she’s not only competed at a high enough level to qualify for state, but she is also playing AAU basketball.
Now with the state track shot put event, all that remains for the spring season, Adams is proud of accomplishing her goal.
“It’s always been one of my goals. I’ve really wanted it, really bad,” she said. “First, I just started working out a lot. I did indoor throwing clinics at Chillicothe, I’ve been to the University of Akron indoor meets and I did a lot of camps with Wittenberg this year.
“I started off with a farther throwing distance this year to boost my confidence and just worked from there. I started throwing at the beginning of this year way farther than I did my sophomore year.”
The journey for Adams to qualify for state began in eighth grade, taking her from learning the sport in junior high to becoming one of the Top 16 in Division III in her sport.
“I started my eighth grade year. I think slowly I’ve just gained more and more confidence, and I kind of saw that I had some talent there, so I just started to work with it,” Adams said of her start in shot put. “Ms. [Kesia] McCoy’s worked with me since middle school, and I’ve just been going from there and putting in more and more time and just seeing that I wanted to do this. I just kept working out more.
“My seventh grade year, I didn’t do it because I had basketball, but Ms. McCoy kept chasing me down the hallway and telling me I needed to do it. Finally, my family members were telling me to do it, so I tried it out and saw that I wasn’t that bad at it.”
Fairfield coaches Debbie and Bill Mangus spoke about Adams and how she’s not only improved over her career, but how she’s helped build the girls program, too.
“It’s been amazing to watch her excitement build over the sport,” Debbie Mangus said. “She was a freshman when we realized she might have some aptitude or ability. We saw that, and she gets very excited about it. She’s very passionate about it, and we are proud of her. We do want to thank David and Mark Bihl from Washington Court House for working with her. She’s met with them, and that has helped Blake, too.”
“Blake was kind of instrumental in helping get our girls program where it is now,” Bill Mangus said. “She was the first very good multi-sport athlete we’ve had for the girls program. She’s set the foundation and set the bar for the others. I think she should be credited with helping us get to the level that we are with the girls program.
“She’s a very driven kind of person, which is what you need to be successful.”
As stated earlier, Adams is a three-sport athlete at Fairfield with volleyball in the fall and basketball in the winter. The schedule of those three sports, along with her work in the classroom plus competing in indoor track events as well during the winter, can make for a busy schedule.
“It got very hectic, but I talked to my basketball coach (Chad Hamilton), and he said it was fine as long as I didn’t hurt myself,” Adams said, “I ended up going from basketball practice to throwing to basketball practice to throwing, and I’m still doing AAU now. So (in the spring) I’d go to track practice, then I’d go to basketball, go to track and go to basketball. But I made time for it all, and it ended up working out.”
It worked out to the point where Adams has had her best season ever for her shot put career. The junior thrower was third at this year’s regional event with a throw of 37-05.50, and before that at districts she had a distance of 37-06.00. When she won her third consecutive SHAC championship, Adams had a throw of 37-04.25.
Those numbers are great, but not her best overall distance. That came earlier this season during a track and field meet at East Clinton. There, Adams had a throw that reached the distance of 38-09 for her personal record. Adams spoke about her goal for state, plus what it was like when she realized she was officially a state qualifier for the first time.
“For myself, I expect to PR, and I want to try to hit 40 before the end of the season and at least make the top eight,” Adams said. “When I realized I qualified for state, I instantly looked at my coaches, and I took off running toward them and gave them the biggest hug.
“I just couldn’t stop grinning. I was just so happy, and it was just a great feeling because at districts last year, I was two inches off from qualifying for regionals. It was a great feeling knowing I finally did it.”
Adams is scheduled to compete in the Division III shot put event at the OHSAA Track and Field Championships on Friday, June 2 at 4 p.m.
Four years of patience, perseverance and practice have landed Fairfield junior Blake Adams in Columbus this upcoming weekend, competing in the Division III OHSAA Track and Field Championships in the girls shot put event against 15 others in the top state event of the season.
Adams, who is the first female athlete to qualify for the state track and field championships in school history, is a three-time Southern Hills Athletic Conference champion with a personal best throw of 38.09 earlier this season. Headed into the final event of the spring season, nothing has come easy or with much rest for the three-sport varsity athlete and Academic All-Ohio honoree.
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In the past school year, Adams has lettered in varsity volleyball, basketball and track and field, plus during the winter she not only played on a district-qualifying basketball team for the Lady Lions where she averaged 7.4 points per game (during the regular season), but she also competed and worked on her shot put craft during indoor track. Then, during this spring, she’s not only competed at a high enough level to qualify for state, but she is also playing AAU basketball.
Now with the state track shot put event, all that remains for the spring season, Adams is proud of accomplishing her goal.
“It’s always been one of my goals. I’ve really wanted it, really bad,” she said. “First, I just started working out a lot. I did indoor throwing clinics at Chillicothe, I’ve been to the University of Akron indoor meets and I did a lot of camps with Wittenberg this year.
“I started off with a farther throwing distance this year to boost my confidence and just worked from there. I started throwing at the beginning of this year way farther than I did my sophomore year.”
The journey for Adams to qualify for state began in eighth grade, taking her from learning the sport in junior high to becoming one of the Top 16 in Division III in her sport.
“I started my eighth grade year. I think slowly I’ve just gained more and more confidence, and I kind of saw that I had some talent there, so I just started to work with it,” Adams said of her start in shot put. “Ms. [Kesia] McCoy’s worked with me since middle school, and I’ve just been going from there and putting in more and more time and just seeing that I wanted to do this. I just kept working out more.
“My seventh grade year, I didn’t do it because I had basketball, but Ms. McCoy kept chasing me down the hallway and telling me I needed to do it. Finally, my family members were telling me to do it, so I tried it out and saw that I wasn’t that bad at it.”
Fairfield coaches Debbie and Bill Mangus spoke about Adams and how she’s not only improved over her career, but how she’s helped build the girls program, too.
“It’s been amazing to watch her excitement build over the sport,” Debbie Mangus said. “She was a freshman when we realized she might have some aptitude or ability. We saw that, and she gets very excited about it. She’s very passionate about it, and we are proud of her. We do want to thank David and Mark Bihl from Washington Court House for working with her. She’s met with them, and that has helped Blake, too.”
“Blake was kind of instrumental in helping get our girls program where it is now,” Bill Mangus said. “She was the first very good multi-sport athlete we’ve had for the girls program. She’s set the foundation and set the bar for the others. I think she should be credited with helping us get to the level that we are with the girls program.
“She’s a very driven kind of person, which is what you need to be successful.”
As stated earlier, Adams is a three-sport athlete at Fairfield with volleyball in the fall and basketball in the winter. The schedule of those three sports, along with her work in the classroom plus competing in indoor track events as well during the winter, can make for a busy schedule.
“It got very hectic, but I talked to my basketball coach (Chad Hamilton), and he said it was fine as long as I didn’t hurt myself,” Adams said, “I ended up going from basketball practice to throwing to basketball practice to throwing, and I’m still doing AAU now. So (in the spring) I’d go to track practice, then I’d go to basketball, go to track and go to basketball. But I made time for it all, and it ended up working out.”
It worked out to the point where Adams has had her best season ever for her shot put career. The junior thrower was third at this year’s regional event with a throw of 37-05.50, and before that at districts she had a distance of 37-06.00. When she won her third consecutive SHAC championship, Adams had a throw of 37-04.25.
Those numbers are great, but not her best overall distance. That came earlier this season during a track and field meet at East Clinton. There, Adams had a throw that reached the distance of 38-09 for her personal record. Adams spoke about her goal for state, plus what it was like when she realized she was officially a state qualifier for the first time.
“For myself, I expect to PR, and I want to try to hit 40 before the end of the season and at least make the top eight,” Adams said. “When I realized I qualified for state, I instantly looked at my coaches, and I took off running toward them and gave them the biggest hug.
“I just couldn’t stop grinning. I was just so happy, and it was just a great feeling because at districts last year, I was two inches off from qualifying for regionals. It was a great feeling knowing I finally did it.”
Adams is scheduled to compete in the Division III shot put event at the OHSAA Track and Field Championships on Friday, June 2 at 4 p.m.