One last toss: Norton's Morgan Hallett looks to end career with state throwing record

Norton's Morgan Hallett might be the biggest favorite in OHSAA track and field this spring.

Winning four state championships before your senior season will do that.

But if anyone thinks the Ohio State recruit will take it easy in her senior season, think again.

Hallett comes into her final high school season rested and refocused, as she decided not to play basketball this winter and competed in indoor track for the first time.

"I feel pretty good. With the break I had in the winter and being able to work on a lot of technique stuff, I really feel like I'm on the edge of a breakthrough," she said. "I've been getting so much stronger than I've ever been and I just don't know what to do with it."

Coach and father Brian Hallett said his daughter is grinding through heavy training.

"She's lifting heavy now," he said. "Normally, things don't start coming together until later in the season. It always builds towards a finish. She wants to the see the numbers."

Norton's Morgan Hallett takes different route her senior year

Before the winter season, Hallett said her basketball teammates thought she might still return. Then she signed a letter of intent in November to compete for the Buckeyes on scholarship.

"They all didn't believe me when I said I wouldn't play," she said. "I think when I signed the papers, they all understood. Coach [Brian] Miller was really sweet about it. He still comes out to support me when he can."

Competing in indoor track for Hallett was an eye opener.

"I felt like a baby giraffe on ice," she said. "No one tells you how fast those circles are. I picked up the weight and I didn't know how that would go, but I really enjoyed it."

Awkward as it may have been, Hallett figured things out. She won the shot put (44 feet, 2 inches) and the weight throw (54-2¼) titles at OATCCC state indoor meet.

The weight throw is the precursor to the hammer throw, which Hallett said she is eager to pick up at Ohio State.

"I don't know if I'm good at it, but I think it's fun," she said.

Morgan Hallett wants one more state throwing 'double'

All of which leads into her final OHSAA season, and Hallett has some goals.

Hallett wants another state championship throwing "double" after winning the Division II state shot put title as a freshman and sophomore and discus as a sophomore and junior.

Last year, Hallett won the discus title with a Division II state-record throw of 170-8. This year, she would like to break all-division Ohio record, which is 183-3.

However, it was a bit of surprise when Hallett finished second in last year's state shot put final. Her best throw of 41-3¾ put her behind Salem's Makenna Rudy.

"You always have to stay up when you have downs like that," she said. "I had a great season. When you're constantly trying to find better technique to use, you hit it and you miss it. I just had one of my bad days in that state meet."

"It's definitely part of the goal," Brian Hallett said. "She had a really rough meet in the shot put at state last year. I think she wants to erase that memory and, as things come together, have fun with it."

Unlike like previous three years, Hallett will face a different venue at the state meet, which will take place at Welcome Stadium in Dayton.

Brian Hallett said he believes the switch could be a blessing in the shot put.

"A lot of shot putters have trouble in that pit at Jesse Owens [Memorial Stadium], so I'm looking forward to it being at Welcome," he said. "It's a very fast ring. Getting in a ring that is more like all the other rings in the state will be good for all the kids."

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Norton's Morgan Hallett wants 2 more state throwing championships