West Lafayette's Taylor Woods, Harrison's Ruth Moser find different paths to state finals
LAFAYETTE — Tendinitis in Taylor Woods' knees hindered the West Lafayette junior's volleyball career.
Seeking a detour from all the running and jumping to alleviate the pain, Woods picked up shot put and discus in the winter, joining the Red Devil track and field team.
Woods couldn't have fathomed then what happened Tuesday night at Lafayette Jeff's Scheumann Stadium.
Her first season competing in the sport will conclude with Woods throwing in the discus at the IHSAA state finals May 31 at Indiana University's Haugh Track and Field Complex after finishing second in the event at Tuesday's regional.
Despite tossing the shot nearly five inches father than her sectional-winning distance from a week earlier, Woods finished sixth in the shot put on Tuesday. But a new technique in discus added an additional 14 feet and placed her behind only Noblesville's Hannah Alexander, who set a regional record.
"I haven't been having the best luck with my spins. It kind of affects my knees a lot," Woods said. "I worked with coach Matthew (Richardson) and we figured a new way to throw with the standing reverse. I tried it in practice last week and it clicked.
"I definitely thought I had a better chance in shot, but I guess this new thing is working out for me."
Woods was one of four local athletes to earn an automatic spot in the IHSAA state meet from the regional, including Harrison junior Ruth Moser (300 hurdles), Crawfordsville junior Naarah Byard (long jump) and Seeger senior Hadessah Austin (3,200).
While Woods was trying something new, Moser wanted to revert to something old.
After a season running the 300-meter hurdles, Moser told coaches before the season she wasn't sure she wanted to compete in the event for a second year.
Moser was convinced to reconsider and at Tuesday's regional, she placed third in the 300 hurdles in 45.86 seconds to earn an automatic spot in next week's IHSAA state finals.
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"The job is not done. I've got to stay me," Moser said. "I've got some records I want to break. But I am really proud of myself and proud to represent Harrison."
After choosing to try the event on a whim after seeing the success of former teammate Jada-Marie Davis, failed to qualify for the regional in the 300 hurdles as a sophomore.
A year later, she's thinking about a podium finish at the state finals.
"We've got to do some speed work. We've got to hit some times," Moser said. "I want to run my best and medal and to do that we have to work on speed and most of all work on jumping over the hurdles and most of all, take some time to rest."
Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on Twitter and Instagram @samueltking.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: 2 Tippecanoe County athletes advance to IHSAA girls state track finals
