At the outdoor track and field national competition, you see athletes whizz by with extreme speed, some leaping at unreal heights and others launching themselves over sand pits. Then, in the distance, you see a metal disc slice through the air. Another personal record, and another meet where Kyle Richards (‘28) beats out upperclassmen by unexpected margins.
In his freshman year, his skills were already apparent. In just his first year of competing in high school, he qualified for the New Balance Nationals Indoor track and field competition, where hundreds of the best track and field athletes across the country come to be crowned the best of the best in their respective events. Richards said, “My favorite accomplishment was being able to make nationals my freshman year. It was so amazing that I was able to go to such a prestigious event. The trip there and just the experience overall were really fun. I got to compete against the best of my respective event that I would normally not see in regional competitions.”
However, being in such big events, such as the New Balance nationals, as a freshman, can be nerve-wracking. Richards expressed that, “I personally struggle to handle pressure at big meets. However, I have been improving in this. I try to clear my head and not worry about performing badly, trying to relax and calm myself down.” Richards also cited that his teammates help him with his nerves, where they cheer him on and encourage him during the stressful competition, which helps when he gets in his own head. “Over time, I have built great relationships with my teammates, and this has helped me tremendously with my performance,” said Richards
Richards first started his career in field events when he was in middle school, where his PE teacher was a shotput coach. “At first, I wasn’t sure if I would do well, but he helped me get started and was definitely a key factor to my improvement early on,” said Richards. Even though he started as just a shot putter, he picked up discus in high school, and has seen his true potential. He stated, “I feel more confident in discus, because I feel like I’m better at it compared to shotput.” Richards, during the outdoor season of track and field, won the discus conference championship against the best of the region, with many of them being older than Richards. He said, “I was able to accomplish this because of my coach, Coach Vern. She has helped me tremendously with my technique and plays a huge role in my success in discus and shotput.”
Although he had a record-breaking year during his freshman year, he plans to soar to greater heights in his sophomore year. “I want to be able to win the state championships this year and qualify for nationals again. I also want to break my personal records and reach the benchmarks of 58’ and 175’ for shot put and discus, respectively,” said Richards. He said that working hard in the coming years would help him be able to compete at the collegiate level, where he said that he wanted to go to a D1 school with a strong throwing program to better excel his skills.
Through his hard work and dedication to keep improving, Richards is setting himself up this season to continue breaking records and adding on to his legacy as one of, if not the best, throwers in Green Hope history.
