Alaina Norman’s day at the state sectionals track meet on Saturday got off to a shaky start, but the Republic senior wasn’t about to let a few disappointing throws get her down.
“Yeah, it was a little rough in the start,” Norman said of her javelin performance, “but I knew I couldn’t let that affect my whole day, so I just moved on and took that anger from jav into shot and just did the best I could with what I had.”
And what she had was enough to qualify for state in the shot put (3rd), javelin (4th), and 4x400m relay (2nd). It’s familiar territory for Norman, who holds the school record in the javelin (43.03m), is part of the record-holding 4x400m relay team (4:02.81), and won medals in both the shot put and javelin at last year’s state championships.
After wrapping up her throwing events, Norman found herself in an unfamiliar position: waiting. “Yeah, if you know me, I never get to wait. I’m always running around to each event, so it was definitely different, but I didn’t let it affect me or get in my head just sitting around,” she said.
When it was finally time for her to anchor the 4x400m relay with teammates Gracie Woods, Kristin Probst, and Reese Finley, Norman was ready. “I think the 4×4 is a love-hate relationship. I think the only reason it’s hard to run is because you stand there and all the nerves just build up in your stomach and it’s the last event, so everyone’s watching you. But in the end, I think it’s one of my favorite events, too,” she said.
Now, with her spot at the state championships secured, Norman has her sights set on improving upon her junior-year performance, which included a 4th-place finish in the javelin and a 6th-place finish in the shot put. If she can earn medals in both throwing events this year, she will join Callie Newton as the only Republic athletes to win medals in the same two field events twice in a row. Newton did it in the shot put and discus in 1998 and 1999.
Norman also won a medal in the javelin as a sophomore, giving her the opportunity to become the fifth Republic athlete to win three state medals in the same field event. Haven Lander (4x pole vault), Amanda Newton (3x discus), Newton (3x discus), and Brooke Stanfield (3x high jump) are the others.
