By Allan Johnstone
At last year’s Oregon Twilight Meet, McKenzie Warren, a then senior at Concordia, crushed the rest of the field, finishing more than five feet ahead of Maddie Rabing, then an Oregon freshman.
Before this year’s meet, Warren, now a professional athlete for Iron Wood TC, had to drop out of the event at the last minute after she learned she had broken a bone in her foot.
Rabing won women’s shot put Friday with a distance of 48 feet, 6 1/4 inches. Christina McDonald, a senior at Concordia, kept it close finishing in second in with 48-3 1/2. And Itohan Aikhionbare, a Belize Athletic Association athlete, finished in third in 48-2 3/4.
The margin from first place to third place was just over 4 inches. When the field is that close in talent, mental strength becomes just as important as physical strength.
“We are definitely working on that stuff,” Rabing said. “Even if it’s practice and doesn’t count, we try to stay in the ring and pretend like we are competing.”
So how did Rabing respond when she learned that Warren wasn’t going to be competing in the event this year?
“It didn’t change my game plan,” she said. “I knew that there was still going to be a strong group of girls competing.”
Without Warren in the heat, the competition this year was a lot closer than it was last year.
“I felt good today,” said Rabing, who added that she has felt stronger all year. “It has been a lot better energy in the ring.”
McDonald, who transferred to Concordia after competing at Oregon State, was pretty clear on why she transferred.
“Jarred Rome is a two-time Olympian, and Oregon State just didn’t have that at the time,” she said. “And seeing how he transformed all his athletes, I knew he could do that with me.”
McDonald, who was teammates with Warren last year, talked about what it was like to be teammates with such an elite competitor: “She came in as a 40-foot thrower, and now she is throwing it 60 feet. So, if she can do it, I can do it too.”
“Today was just an off day for me,” she said. “I didn’t do well in the hammer, and if I don’t do well in my first event it is hard for me to recoup.”
Rabing hopes to finish her sophomore season strong with a few more wins and wants to compete at NCAAs in June.
McDonald’s collegiate career is coming to an end after this year, but she plans to continue throwing as a professional athlete. She would like to rejoin Warren as a member of the Iron Wood TC.
