It’s not often that a track meet will stop traffic.
But that’s exactly what happened at Parkway Central during Saturday’s Class 4 District 4 meet – and it happened every time Timberland junior Josh McDonald entered the discus ring.
The discus area is relatively close to Highway 141, and a monster discus throw can reach the road and potentially hit a car. A few years ago, Parkway Central’s John Petroff proved it could be done when he bounced one off a passing car, and the school was not taking any chances when they saw McDonald’s seed distance of 175 feet.
Central had police officers stop traffic for McDonald’s throws, and it was a warranted measure as McDonald launched a state-best throw of 192 feet, 3 inches, more than 15 feet better than his old PR.
“It just made me want to try to hit the road and go farther,” McDonald said. “The officer came up and said, ‘You better throw over 180 or I’m going to be mad I had to come out and stop traffic.’”
The school tried to make sure that even without cars going by the disc would not have a chance to reach the road.
“They had parents and coaches holding football tackling dummies to try and knock the disc down before it skipped across the road,” Timberland coach Cary Eldredge said. “I think he sort of thrived on it and liked the stage. He had a smile all day.”
Eldredge said McDonald benefitted from an exceptional performance in the shot put earlier in the meet. McDonald threw a new PR of 56-6, which added nearly two feet to his previous best.
McDonald said the improved shot put came about after a recent decision to abandon the spin and return to the glide step that helped him qualify for the state meet last year. And he conceded that success in one event helps provide a spark in the other.
“I went to the glide two weeks ago and definitely see a correlation,” McDonald said. “I was doing really well with the spin in the indoor season, but then I fell out of it so I made the decision to switch.
“Right now I’m loving both with the way they’re flying, but I’m more happy with the disc with that throw.”
McDonald also recently realized that he loves the sport of track and field. He missed last fall’s football season due to a torn labrum. While he was recovering from shoulder surgery and working through rehab, he began to question where he should be spending his competitive energies. McDonald discovered that once he became healthy he really wanted to spend his time in the ring.
“Having shoulder surgery made me want to focus on track and want to do well,” McDonald said. “I was at a point where I had to decide between track or football in college, and the surgery helped me know that track is really what I love and want to do.”
McDonald said he will forego football next fall to spend more time dedicated to USATF meets and the weight room.
It should come as no surprise that McDonald is starting to find success in the throws since he has seen what it takes to be a successful thrower. His older brother, Alex, won the Class 4 state discus title three years ago with a toss of 190-2. Alex now throws for the University of Missouri, but Josh said his decision to focus on track was not influenced by Alex’s collegiate career.
McDonald and Timberland throws coach Tom Papez routinely review film of workouts and meets to try to pinpoint where to make adjustments to Josh’s technique. Recently Josh has been working on keeping the discus high throughout the rotation.
“Specifically, my height in the middle and rotating my right foot and being fast in the middle,” McDonald said. “It’s the path where the discus goes, and I want it above my shoulder in the middle so I get more pull and kind of sling shot it out there.
“The big thing is once you hit a big throw, they keep coming. You feel it and keep repeating it and getter bigger and bigger throws.”
With the state series underway, McDonald picked the perfect time to start launching top-flight throws. Now he just needs to figure out how to park some cars in the Dwight T. Reed infield for him to target.