EE: Hi, I’m Jonah Chang.

EE: And I’m Stella Petzova. Welcome to Episode 36 of Time Out! In this series, we explore the MVHS sports scene to learn more about the journeys of our very own athletes from various sports.

EE: Today, we are joined by junior Gillie Ross as we explore her journey in shotput and discus for Varsity Track and Field, and what she’s learned from the sport. Let’s toss it to Gillie!

EE: When did you start participating in Track and Field? 

GR: I started freshman year. That was my first year. 

EE: Did you have any exposure to this kind of thing beforehand, or play any similar sports? 

GR: My sister did track and field through middle school, and she was obviously doing it in high school too, so I guess that’s why I started doing it at first.

EE: What about the sport kept you coming back after freshman year? 

GR: Well, I’m good at it. I think it’s always more fun to play a sport when you’re good at it. Even in my first year, I won leagues as a first-time thrower for Varsity, so I knew that I could go pretty far in it. I didn’t do track and field last year because I wanted to focus on school, but then I’m back this year, and I’m going to CCS. So that’s why I kept doing it. It’s also fun because I can do it with my friends, because they’re all doing it, too.

EE: What drew you to throwing events, as opposed to other track and field events?

GR: I hate running, so that rules out pretty much every other event. And I have the build for a thrower — especially because of hockey, I have big legs. So I get to use those a lot in throwing, which seems counterintuitive, because people think it’s mostly arms, but you have to use your legs too.

EE: Can you explain how you train for your events? 

GR: It depends. There are different types of practices. There are typical practices, where I just do a bunch of warm-ups, and then I throw discus or shot put first. And then when I get tired, or I’m feeling good, or sometimes I have bad practice and I’m just like, ‘I’m not feeling this,’ I move to the other event. And then there’s pre-meet warm-ups, where we do a couple walk-throughs, and then three or four throws, and then we’re done, because you don’t want to be super tired. Outside of track and field, I go to the gym — weight lifting, explosive movements, that type of thing. And then other sports help me get prepared, too.

EE: How do you prepare yourself mentally and physically to throw?

GR: In the week leading up to a pre-meet or a meet, if I don’t think I’m throwing very well, I try to take a couple of days off, or a day off, to reset and get back in the mindset, let my body rest. And then nutrition-wise, I try to eat good meals before so I have energy and drink a lot of water.  I just listen to a lot of loud music and try to relax, because I tend to get in my own head and get really tense. So I have to try to stay loose and relax.

EE: Is there anything you learned from leagues that you want to apply to CCS?

GR: From previous performances this year, my own biggest enemy is myself, because I get in my own head. There’s a lot of pressure on me, because I’m supposed to be pretty good, and I’m really close to beating the school record for shot put. So there’s also that pressure on me. Everyone’s like, “Oh, you have to beat the record now.” So I guess I just have to work on staying relaxed.

EE: How would you describe the throwing community at Monta Vista? 

GR: We like to have fun. We like to laugh. At practice, everyone’s always laughing. We’re having fun. Throwers, we’re in our own little area, so it’s almost like a big family. I don’t really know how to describe it, but it’s a very welcoming community. You don’t have to be good, you just have to have fun and want to get better.

EE: Is there anything you think people misunderstand about throwing events?

GR: I think a lot of the misconception is that you have to be this huge, super strong, super buff thrower. But honestly, one of the best throwers I’ve seen for discus is really skinny, very thin. It’s so misconstrued that you have to be super, super strong. You obviously do have to be strong, but a lot of it is technique. Especially for discus, someone who is weaker but with better technique will out throw someone who’s stronger 99% of the time.

EE: Has there ever been a moment when one of your teammates was not in the right mindset or was having trouble, and then you helped them get back in the game?

GR: There’s been a couple instances this year where one of my friends who’s also throwing, just outside of throwing, was having a little trouble outside of track and field, and I talked to him, let him talk about it, and I think that helped, and helped him get back into the mindset. A lot of the time, when people are having trouble outside of sports, they go to sports, and that’s where they can release all the tension, release whatever anger or frustration they have, and talking helps a lot.

EE: Has being on the track and field team impacted your high school experience overall?

GR: Overall, definitely positive impact. I think track and field, the whole team is obviously huge because there’s so many different events, and it’s brought me and a lot of my friends closer, because most of my friend group does Track and Field in some event or another, and a lot of us are throwers, so I think that definitely brings us closer. It means we can spend more time together. A lot of us are pretty busy, so there’s not a lot of time we can spend together outside of school hours, so having Track and Field and being able to do that together has been really fun this year, and I know a lot of my front group is leaving next year, either in Middle College or moving so I’m definitely going to be able to cherish these memories this year with them.

EE: Do you have a favorite memory from this year?

GR: Our last home meet, we did what’s called a throwers relay. It’s just for fun. After the meet is over, we get the throwers, who are very atypical sprint runners — they’re typically not very good at running — and we do a 4×100. And so all the other teams had pretty much left. So it was just throwers and jumpers who participated. Obviously, jumpers won because they’re actually pretty good at running. I was horrible at it, but I had a lot of fun. We came in third out of like, six teams. So, you know, not a horrible performance. I would say that was probably one of my favorite memories from this year.

EE: That’s it for Episode 36 of Time Out. Thanks for tuning in!