The throwing rings sit on the far end of the track where a talented group off throwers practice. An often overlooked and underappreciated event group has proved to be incredibly important to the track teams success. Junior Tyler Curnow has been leading this success this season setting the school record at the Bob Stuart invite at Mounds view with a throw of 177 feet.
Curnow broke the school’s 32 year old record discus record with a throw of 177 feet at the Bob Stuart invite. It was his final throw of the day and after a few rough meets he was ready for a good one.
“I just went up there, went as fast as I could. I could definitely tell the second I threw it because everybody started yelling. I thought I scratched but I guess I didn’t,” Curnow said.
Throws have been a model of depth and consistency and have been a force for the team. While throwing looks like brute force it is much more controlled.
“We treat it a lot like an art… like a bonsai tree where you trim here and tease there just very small changes that come together for a powerful throw,” throws coach Paul Weiland said.
True team state is the biggest meet of the season because it tests a team’s depth and talent. While true team favors big schools it is an opportunity to showcase younger rising talent.
“I think its out of the best schools in the state you look at bringing athletes into a valued scoring position as a third guy in a couple of years might be your number one guy. It puts them in a leadership role sooner than schools that focus on a conference meet or a MSHSL individual meet,” head coach Ben Straka said.
It has been 27 years since Stillwater won true team state. The season goal has been to reach the podium at true team state after years of repeated 4th place finishes.
“I have always seen this as our year. We have a deep group of seniors this year… I think it’s going to take everyone who has been there before to take the seriousness of it from the moment the meet starts,” Straka said.
Following a decisive victory at true team sections the team will make final adjustments ahead of true team state. The throwers are looking to be a key group at the state meet. With everything on the line at true team state all that is left for the team is to compete.
