For The Tribune
Morgan Boas started throwing the shot put and discus in seventh grade with the Seymour middle School girls’ track and field team.
She has continued to throw both throughout her career, and now says, “discus definitely is my favorite. It’s more about technique than power, so it’s easier on your muscles and makes you think of it more.”
The Seymour High School senior spins on her discus release.
“It’s creating as much torque as you can,” she said. “It’s all in the hips at the end, a flick of the hips. Actually, there’s not as much shoulder as long as you’re separated and keeping your chest out and stretched. You feel a pull in your chest if you do it right.
“So when you do do it right, it feels good. You don’t have to even see how far it goes. It’s really all in the hands, especially, because whichever finger it comes off of depends on if it’s going to wobble.
Her best throw has been 96-feet, 6-inches, which she threw last at the Shelbyville Invitational to place sixth. Boas said the girls throw the same size and weight discus in middle school as in high school.
Boas has continued to throw the shot put at meets.
“A good throw for me would be 28 or 29 (feet)” Boas said. “Thirty is my goal, but it has been haunting me. I haven’t been able to get past it.”
Boas said she is more exact on where her shot put is going to land in practice and in meets.
“I actually have a place in shot put that I always throw to,” she said. “I don’t know how, but it’s always right there. You can draw a one-foot by one-foot box around where I throw, and it always lands there.”
Boas said she works hard on her technique in practice.
“Most of the time I’m not throwing at practice, I’m by the concrete slabs, where there’s rings drawn to work on footwork, and we have a disc that has a strap that straps to your hand to have good weight balance when you’re practicing,” she said.
“It’s nice to watch pros do it. If you want to be good at an instrument you listen to someone who is really good at an instrument. I think it’s mostly in the legs and hips. I think practice is very important.”
Boas estimates she takes about 20 throws in practice.
“A way you can really tell if you’re getting tired and over it is when you release it the release pushes you back,” Boas said. “You’re really supposed to learn forward with it. If the discus pushes you back, then you’re probably getting tired.”
On the schedule, Boas looks forward to the home meets.
“It’s kind of comical, at other places the rings have a hole in the middle that drains the water, but with ours we just get the leaf blower and just blow all the water out, but it’s kind of fun,” Boas said.
Boas said she enjoys throwing at Brown County, and added she prefers the bigger, multi-team meets.
“I like the bigger meets with multiple schools because you get to see different technique because different coaches teach different,” she said. “I always like the bus rides.”
The past three winters, Boas competed with the SHS bowling team.
“I was usually anchor,” Boas said. I like it a lot because then it’s not so pressured and ‘this is our game,’ as a team. Next game we could switch up.”
Boas has enjoyed being a student at SHS.
“I like the teachers,” Boas said. “The teachers make the classes better. You’re about to go to math and its ‘Oh, I don’t want to go,’ but then you see the teachers and it’s ‘never mind.’ I like it. I’ve never met a teacher I don’t like. I’ve always had great teachers.”
She said she enjoyed playing in the pep band at the basketball games.
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Name: Morgan Boas
School:Seymour High School
Parents: Shawna Boas, Darrin Boas
Sibling: Brandon
Sports: track and field 4 years, bowling 3 years
Organizations: band, choir
Plans after high school: attend Marian University, study pastoral leadership
Favorite food: pasta
Favorite TV show: The Office
Favorite signer: Josh Groban
Favorite movie: Dirty Dancing
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