The winter and spring sport of track brings to mind running events such as sprints, hurdles and long-distance runs. However, most people often neglect the whole name: track and field. Field events make up an essential part of any track team and are often some of the most interesting events to watch, including jumps and throws. One freshman who threw shotput for indoor track and has now added discus to his resume is breaking boundaries and setting records already.
Kyle Richards (‘28) has been throwing shotput since middle school for a total of 3 years and is now taking his expertise to the high school level, contributing to Green Hope’s track and field team. He has already seen success, which he discussed with the GH Falcon. Regarding his achievements, he said, “I beat the indoor freshman record for Green Hope. My 8th grade year I was the best middle school shotputter in the state. I’m also very close to beating both the freshman outdoor shotput and discus records.” In only his freshman year, he is already breaking records and is a powerhouse for the track and field team.
All of this success does not come without hard work. Richards puts in immense amounts of effort to reach these levels, which he talked about. He stated, “During school, I’m always working on my form and working with my coach to improve. Outside of school I’m going to the gym almost every day and watching videos of good throwers and what they do to throw far.” In addition to this, Richards is almost always seen to be staying an extra 15 minutes or half an hour past the end of practice. This work clearly pays off for Richards, setting him up for success.
Once Richards began outdoor track, he added discus to his repertoire and immediately stood out. In his first meet, he threw 103 feet, a feat that new throwers may take a whole season or multiple to achieve. Richards discussed the success in his own words, and stated, “I’ve been throwing discus for a week now with no prior knowledge or experience of throwing discus and yet I’m three inches from the freshman record. My other throws were well past the record, but I fouled those.” At the time of his interview, he hadn’t yet broken the record. However, in the very next meet Richards threw a phenomenal 127 feet and easily broke the freshman record, currently ranking him the best freshman in the state for discus.
As Richards stated, he watched videos of professional throwers to improve his own prowess in the sport, and he looks up to one thrower for the most inspiration. He stated who this was, and said, “I look up to Ryan Crouser because I’ve seen his tremendous success in the sport and how helpful he’s been explaining technique in his videos.” Ryan Crouser holds the world record for shotput, throwing an unimaginable 23.56 meters, or 77.29 feet. He is an inspiration and a massive help to any thrower looking to improve.
Richards knows his skill in this sport is something few and far between and plans to take throwing to the next level through high school and beyond. He discussed his plans for the future in the sport, and stated, “I plan to be the best thrower the school has seen, I plan to beat many records, and I want to win states. I also plan to go to a D1 school and continue to compete there.” Richards certainly has big dreams, but he also has the skill to support these. Through continuous hard work, he is sure to be able to reach his goals in his throwing career.
In his first season of track and field, Richards is already paving a path for success in throwing, setting incredible records and making a name for himself within the team. He is sure to continue to succeed, achieving his dreams through his work ethic and hard work every day through practice, working out and studying technique.
