Michaela Herendeen makes it five straight seasons of Field sending a thrower to state

AUSTINTOWN — Field is sending a thrower to the state track and field meet for the fifth straight season.

In her first year as a starting thrower for the Falcons, Michaela Herendeen extended that streak with a regional runner-up toss of 123 feet, 4 inches in the discus. As she walked off the podium Saturday, the junior said she embraces what it means to be a Field thrower and the expectation that comes with it.

"It's kind of cool because we've always worked so hard as a program to keep building the future, and I think that our past throwers really helped build the future for us," Herendeen said. "It's kind of nice just knowing that we have a program that has been so successful and being able to represent that means a lot."

Past, present and future — fellow regional qualifier Reagan Daugintis and Herendeen are both juniors — were on hand Saturday in Austintown. As Falcons discus coach Levi Miller noted, 2022 discus state qualifiers Emily Davis and Ali Morris were also in attendance Saturday.

"They came and watched today, and they support and they help and they helped teach those kids a little bit last year," Miller said. "We're trying to build it where you kind of help out the young kids and teach them how to work hard and those kind of things."

Not that Herendeen needed to be told to work hard.

"She throws a lot in the offseason," Miller said. "Her work ethic, it's just that's how she is. She's a great kid, high character, and so she's put a lot into it. I don't think that there's anything exceptional in terms of she's not super tall or super strong, but she does work really hard at it."

Michaela Herendeen rides the ups and downs of being a first-year starter

If you look merely at the bookends, the season looks like a spring breeze for Herendeen.

After all, she had an early breakout performance at Crestwood's Don Faix Invitational, winning the title in Mantua with a massive throw of 127-6. Between that performance and the long history of state-qualifying throwers at Field, the expectation was set early.

"Obviously, we work so hard on our offseason," Herendeen said. "So I think the end goal was [qualifying for state], but it was realistically how consistent can I get at a good pace."

As Herendeen and Miller noted, consistency was the challenge, and understandably so, given that everything about the 2023 season was new for Daugintis and Herendeen. Last year, it was Davis and Morris tossing the discus at every big meet for the Falcons. Like a minor league ballplayer getting called up to Progressive Field, there was an adjustment process, regardless of the talent.

"[Herendeen] had kind of a challenging season," Miller said. "At [Don Faix], she threw really far. She hasn't thrown past 120 since then. There was even like an 85 feet in the middle and 100-foot meets if you go back through and look, so she's just kind of learning how to compete because she's never been to all this before because last year it was Emma and Ali at every invitational."

How did Herendeen escape those midseason doldrums? Miller said it was a simple matter of building rapport, developing trust between student-athlete and coach as she gained faith in the system and he gained faith in his new starting thrower. That trust came through in Austintown, Miller said, as he merely told Herendeen, "you got this and you just got to go out and do it."

Simple enough.

"She had a good practice on Thursday and on Friday this week and she just had a quiet confidence about her," Miller said. "She felt pretty good going into today, so I kind of just trusted her to do her thing. I didn't try to coach her too much, and she just kind of went out and did it."

While heading to state as a first-year starter might seem daunting, Miller said Herendeen has nothing to worry about. Throwing tends to be a discipline that favors juniors and seniors, meaning Herendeen is far from alone in making her Columbus debut in the 11th grade.

"Just try to get into one," Miller said. "You got three throws. If you make finals, that's great. If not, great season. She's going to go out there and be confident and throw her throws and hope for the best."

As for Daugintis, who came in 11th at Austintown with a 97-3, the future is similarly bright.

"She made it to regionals as a junior," Miller said. "I told her that's still a heck of an accomplishment. She had a great season, too."

Five straight seasons of Field throwers making state:

2018: Cortney Currey (10th in the discus, 120-10), Buzz Kline (14th in the shot put, 36-5¾)

2019: Cortney Currey (fourth in the discus, 128-03)

2020: No state meet due to COVID-19

2021: Grant Weise (eighth in the discus, 154-0), Grant Weise (16th in the shot, 48-4¾)

2022: Emily Davis (sixth in the discus, 126-10), Ali Morris (eighth in the discus, 122-1), Emma Rotondo (11th in the shot, 38-3½)

2023: Michaela Herendeen (discus)

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Michaela Herendeen continues tradition of Field throwers making state