No matter where the Ohio High School Athletic Association Division III state shot put competition was held, Windham Bombers’ senior Briah Daniel was going to be ready. The Bombers’ senior finished in sixth place with a personal and school record of 39 feet, 8½ inches last Thursday at The University of Dayton’s Welcome Stadium.
“It’s an incredible feeling,” Daniel said. “I have been so incredibly blessed to be able to be here and to go compete. It feels even better to go up from a couple of places from last year, it is such a great feeling.”
Having placed eighth in last year’s OHSAA Division III state shot put competition and breaking the previous school record set by Julie Taft, Daniel said she was ready for more entering her final year of high school track and field.
“It was a big motivator,” she acknowledged. “Once you do something big in one year, you want to follow it up and do something better for the next year, so it definitely motivated me to work and practice harder so I could move up and do better.”
Daniel earned her second consecutive state berth by snagging one of the two at-large bids out of the OHSAA Division III Norwayne Regional. She said that she faced an incredibly deep field of competitors at the Regional meet.
Although she advanced to the state meet by receiving an at-large bid, she said that she did not feel any extra pressure to perform or prove herself.
Scheduled to throw in the second flight of competitors, Daniel put herself at the top of the leaderboard when she recorded a distance of 38 feet, 7¼ inches.
“It is always a good feeling to get a good first mark,” she noted. “It kind of relaxes you a little bit and it makes you less nervous so I definitely think I was more relaxed for my next five throws because I knew I had a good one that would get me to the finals.”
After the first three throws in both flights, Daniel’s first one landed her in seventh place to advance to the final round of nine. She remained in seventh place until her fifth throw, when she moved to fifth place by throwing a personal and new school record of 39 feet, 8½ inches.
According to Daniel, she remembered some advice from a coach she knew to help her break her own school record.
“I was talking to a coach from Matthews,” she said. “He has helped me over the past couple of years and he just gave me a few tips and I tried to do what he told me to do and it worked. It was a good throw and it felt great.”
The University of Mount Union track and field commit fell to sixth place in the final round after Arcanum sophomore Faith Wooten netted a distance of 40 feet, 5½ inches, but Daniel still improved her placing and personal best from last year’s meet.
She said that she enjoyed the new throwing venue at the state meet this year, which was a roped off section away from the football field compared to the throwing area she had competed in at The Ohio State University’s Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium last year.
“When you are at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium you feel you are at the state meet,” she added. “At Dayton, it felt a little bit different. It almost felt like an invitational but it was actually a good thing for me because I felt less nervous.
In addition to Daniel taking sixth place, the OHSAA Division III Norwayne Regional was well-represented with the top five placers all coming out of that region and the top five all throwing a distance greater than 40 feet.
Having competed in her final athletic event at Windham High School, the Bombers’ senior graduates having broken the school record in the shot put in consecutive seasons and became a member of the 1,000 point scorers club in basketball.
“It is just a great feeling to be able to represent my school,” she said. “It feels even better for myself. I have worked so hard these past four years and beyond to be at the point I am today and it is a good feeling to see your hard work pay off in multiple sports.”
Daniel’s basketball playing days will come to an end as she will focus on track and field when she joins the Purple Raiders to continue her athletic career and she is excited to continue competing at the collegiate level.
