Junior Oliver Bryant’s track practices look a lot different from his football practices. Instead of landing bruising blows in the middle of the field, he’s off on the grassy side of the track. And in place of tackling, he’s hopping.
Before the mobility drill, Bryant slips on his new white throwing shoes.
“Get your shoes on Oliver!” head throwing coach Joe Allen mocks. “Just because you’re the best discus thrower in the state of Kansas doesn’t mean we’re going to wait for you!”
Bryant gets in line for the warm-up. Alternating feet across the green barriers and orange traffic cones, he weathers the taunts of Allen with his crew — the small group of throwers on the track and field team.
After his personal record performance at the SM East Quad meet on March 27 — 161 feet and six inches — Bryant is the record holder for discus throw in 6A schools across Kansas, and in the top four overall in the state. What started as a suggestion from his football coach has evolved into a year-round passion, as Bryant aims for college opportunities and state titles.
After playing football freshman year, head football coach Mark Simoneau suggested that Bryant try track and field in the spring. Former throws coach Emily Fossoh taught him the basics of technique, release and the one-and-a-half power-building turns of the discus throw.
“I knew, watching him, that he had something special,” Fossoh said. “Many times as a coach, you can tell based on how easily they grasp [the disc], technique or if they’re fast.”
Competitors hurl a three-and-a-half-pound disc across an arc-shaped field, while remaining within a throwing circle. The event is about more than just strength, Fossoh says. She’s coached athletes who were strong, but didn’t have good balance. Bryant had both, and was a focused learner. He paid attention in practice and tried to learn as fast as he could.
“If you aren’t actually flexible, balanced and able to use all parts of your body, you might not find success in throwing, even if you are that guy benching hundreds of pounds,” Fossoh said.
On his own time, after practice, Bryant would practice throws into Meadowbrook Park from his backyard, measuring his throws with a wheel measure from his dad’s landscaping company.
At the end of his freshman year, Oliver was throwing around 110 feet in discus — a solid mark for a freshman, but not yet competitive at the regional and state levels, according to Fossoh. But in Bryant’s sophomore year, practicing with Allen, he was able to adjust his release point and bring his throw up to the 140s.
At KSHAA Regionals his sophomore year, Bryant was projected to place, but threw a disappointing performance of 114 feet on a bad knee.
“It kind of threw me off for a bit, but I came back, and started practicing again,” Bryant said.
Over the summer, he attended a two-day throwing camp in Iowa to develop his form. He worked on his Olympic lifts to build explosiveness. And before this season, he threw two or three times a week on the SM East field to stay sharp — no longer at Meadowbrook, because his house gets in the way of his longer throws.
Bryant’s dad Andy comes to all of his meets. At the first meet of the year, when Bryant threw his best by 20 feet, Andy knew his son had broken his record just by his reaction.
Allen says the throw was exciting, but unsurprising given Bryant’s progress.
“Oliver’s been climbing in big leaps and bounds as a thrower for some time now, and he works hard in the off season and comes back stronger,” Allen said. “He’s also a very good technician. He studies and studies.”
As the track and field season continues, Bryant will look to continue to push his range, while also thinking about sending in tape for recruiting. At practice, he works on drills and throws in the 150s — a number Fossoh and Allen believe will keep climbing.
“[Great throwers] all have that same attribute,” Allen said. “They’ll work. They’ll be in their basement, talking to strangers, and they’ll be working on their sweep leg. They won’t even know. It’s just crazy stuff like that.”
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