By Dana Harding (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
During Saturday’s shot put preliminaries, Adesola Fasipe stumbled through the final turn of her second throw.
The Summit Prep junior not only managed to avoid scratching, her throw was more than enough to send her through to the finals.
Then, on her next throw, another stumble sent Fasipe to the ground.
“I just really fell off balance,” Fasipe said. “I’ve been trying to really get the drive throughout my throw, and it’s been hard to tweak my technique a little bit. So I had a big fall.”
Despite the glitch, Fasipe refused to be rattled. Instead, she refocused and captured first place by nearly two meters.
“Usually it’s just taking deep breaths, making sure that I’m focused, and just keeping yourself relaxed,” Fasipe said. “I think that’s the most important part of the throw, because if you’re throwing too hard or overthinking and you’re gonna have a bad throw.”
Fasipe is no stranger to high pressure situations, either.
PHOTOS: TRACK EVENTS – CLICK HERE
Just one day earlier, she was competing with her Summit Prep teammates at the Scholar’s Bowl state tournament in Columbia.
“Scholar’s Bowl is a lot different,” Fasipe said. “I think a lot of it is just about making sure that your mind is prepared and making sure that you know your stuff, your mind could blank a lot. But in terms of track, it’s a lot more different because it’s a lot more physical.”
Following the shot put event, Fasipe proved she knows a thing or two about the physical aspect of track, winning the discus throw, as well.
Not bad for a small-school athlete used to practicing on an empty grass lot and any available section of concrete she can find.
“I started throwing in ninth grade, and we don’t really have a pit or anything,” Fasipe said. “We don’t have any rings, but really just working hard I find a little piece of concrete on the basketball court, and just throwing and really preparing myself for the meets, and just learning as I go has really helped.”
