Photo Courtesy of: www.sj-r.com
By DAVE KANE (dave.kane@sj-r.com)
THE STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER
CHARLESTON — Kelsey Card has, for the most part, been an athlete who lets her impressive performances speak for her. But the Carlinville High School junior got a little vocal Saturday afternoon, and it put exclamation marks on Year 3 of her weight-throwing reign.
When you’re essentially competing against yourself, you need to find something that helps you dig a little deeper. Or throw a little farther.
“We told her she needed to let it all hang out today,’’ Carlinville coach Shelly Wills said after Card won her third straight Class 1A girls state titles in the shot put and discus, including the all-time best discus throw by an Illinois high school girl: 167 feet 4.
“Yelling’s what she needed to do; she knows that’ll improve her throws. We were waiting for her to unleash it, and she finally did it on her third (last) shot put and the last (discus) throw here.
“It makes a difference. It brings the adrenaline up. It was fantastic.’’
In the early going Saturday, Card gave out a very audible yell on her last shot put attempt. The result was a personal-best 48-9¾, which also topped the Class 1A state-meet record of 48-0½ by Greenville’s Lisa Ferry in 1979.
“My parents (Tom and Andrea Card) and everybody says, ‘You’ve got to yell at the end!’’’ Card said after her shot-put win. “So I’m like, ‘OK, I’m going to give it a go.’’’
After she set a Class 1A girls discus record with a 153-7 in Thursday’s soggy prelims, Card’s first two tosses Saturday went 153-1 and 151-6. Her personal best, set earlier this spring, was 164-4 — one inch off all-time Illinois mark (regardless of class or time of the season) set by Aurora Rosary’s Dore DeBartolo in 1997.
“I said, ‘OK, I have to do it on this last one,’’’ Card said of a more primal scream that helped her launch Saturday’s last throw.
“I wanted to make sure to get it out there, so it counted. It felt better. I didn’t have a good finish on the first two today, but this one felt strong to the end.’’
Sean Canaday, a state champion during his high school days at Riverton, has worked with Card and many other area high school throwers — including Taylorville freshman Claire Nolan, who finished third in the Class 2A shot put on Saturday.
Canaday had a good feeling as soon as the discus left Card’s hand.
“We just talked before her last throw, about what she was doing wrong,’’ Canaday said. “I said, ‘You need to tear it loose.’ As soon as she let it go, I knew. It shot out there like a rocket.
“Pretty exciting stuff. It was a great day.’’
“I really did want the record,’’ said Card, who came away from last year’s state meet somewhat disappointed after failing to get personal bests in either event.
“I always try to go for personal bests. Even if I didn’t win and threw farther than before, I’d be happy with that.’’
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