Dirkschnedier glides to shot put recordby Lincoln Arneal Finally. Thanks in part to a last minute form change, junior Sam Dirkschneider erased two years of frustration last Tuesday [May 6] afternoon.
Dirkschneider topped the school record she set as a freshman with a toss of 44 feet, 7 inches at the Fremont Bergan Invite. She set the old mark of 43-1 at the 2012 Logan View Invite, her third career varsity meet. “Finally,” Dirkschneider said when asked her reaction to breaking the record. “I set it my freshman year and it was so hard all of last year to not be able to hit that. This year I’ve been solid 39s. When I even heard that I was in the 40s, I was so happy.” The record-breaking throw was set up by a revision in her throwing motion. This season, Dirkschneider has been using a rotational technique that is similar to what she does in the discus. However, after several meets stuck in the 39-foot range, patience grew thin. “She’s been frustrated, coach Feurer’s been a little frustrated, and I’ve been a little frustrated too,” coach Jeff Voss said. “They’ve all been a little frustrated, because they know she can do better. This shows her this is the way to go about it. Just use your strength and go.” After thinking about it for a few weeks, Dirkschneider approached throws coach Bob Feurer and asked about going back to the glide method she had used in previous years. Feurer obliged and they spent Monday's practice working on technique. Feurer said they worked off a little rust after not using the glide method for almost a year, but it didn’t take long to get comfortable with her old style. “Habits are ingrained with practice and she’s practiced the glide for four years and she’s only the rotational for just one,” he said. “Obviously, it was a good choice on her part.”
Not wanting to set expectations too high coming into the meet, Dirkschneider said she was just aiming to hit the 42-foot mark. Voss agreed and said he would have been happy with a 41 or 42-foot throw. Her best throw so far this season came at the April 12 Wisner Invite, where she threw 41-6.5. Dirkschneider showed promise of a big day right away as two of her throws in prelims cleared 40 feet. On the day, five of Dirkschneider’s six throws were longer than 40 feet, a mark which she has only exceeded at two meets this year. She entered finals leading at 41-5, but on the first round of throws Kelsey Chapek of Wahoo Neumann nearly matched Dirkschneider with a toss of 41-4. Dirkschneider said she tried to stay calm as they stretched out the tape measure. After the measurement confirmed the school record, Dirkschneider hugged fellow thrower Sivana Witt and became visibly emotional. She also hugged her mother and received congratulations from other teammates watching. “I got really excited (when it landed), but I didn’t want to get excited for nothing,” Dirkschneider said. “I am not usually not that emotional and I was fine. Then Sivana hugged me and then it all came out.” According to the Omaha World-Herald’s charts, the effort was the third-best throw in the state this year, regardless of class. Dirkschneider will have plenty of competition during the next few weeks as the top three marks and four of the top six efforts this year belong to Class C throwers. Feurer said he thinks Dirkschneider will be ready for the challenge. “She admitted that she’s a lot stronger, but asked ‘Why am I not throwing farther than I am?’” Feurer said. “Now she knows she can, and the sky is the limit.” <<Back to the front page |
