Senior Avery Fisk won her second consecutive discus throwing title at the GNAC Outdoor Track and Field championships. 

After trailing the competition by 0.42 meters going into the final throw, Fisk won with a final throw of 43.47 meters. 

“I was scared there for a little bit [because] I was losing going into our final round,” Fisk said. “I had this feeling that I will not lose, I will win and then to have this amazing throw and to win and defend my title, it’s an amazing feeling. It’s such an accomplishment.”

While Fisk placed first in the discus, she also finished in third place in the shot put with a throw of 13.37 meters. Fisk said her origins in throwing events go back to middle school.

“I didn’t like running. I wanted to do track, but I didn’t like running,” Fisk said. “I wanted to throw and my dad was a big inspiration. He said, ‘If you don’t like running then you should try throwing,’ and in middle school I was just hooked after that.” 

Fisk said at first, track and field was just a bonding thing to do in the beginning of high school. However, as she continued to improve she decided to take it more seriously.

“I was whatever you want to count as “good” in middle school and I really liked it and I wanted to keep going with it,” Fisk said. “At first it was something fun to do … I don’t think it was probably until my junior or senior year of high school that I started taking it a lot more seriously.” 

Growing up in Ellensburg made the choice of CWU an easy one for Fisk.

“I really like Ellensburg. I like the homey feel that it has and how tight the Central community is,” Fisk said. “I was coming here already for academics. I hadn’t even considered athletics yet and then I got a call from our assistant track coach, Coach Aanstad, and she said ‘We’re going to be watching you and we would love to have you come throw for us.’”

Fisk said the group of throwers are close and push themselves to get better even off the track.

“We have to spend a lot of time pushing ourselves in the weight room to lift really heavy weight because we have to throw 8 to 16 pounds as far as we can,” Fisk said. “At practice, it’s very mentally tough. You get in the ring and you have 20 million things you have to worry about … Throwing is more difficult because it’s a mental game instead of a physical game.”

According to Fisk, practice is key to dealing with all the stress that throwing events entail. 

“Practice, practice, practice,” Fisk said. “Take as many quality reps as you need so that it is muscle memory that by the time you get into the competition you don’t need to worry about making a technique change in the middle [of your throw].” 

Fisk said while winning her first title last year was magical, she thinks defending it this season was more of an accomplishment.

“Definitely winning my second one,” Fisk said. “Last year, I had a little bit of a better season PR [Personal Record] wise, finding who I was as a thrower and this year I really struggled this year throwing and hitting marks I really wanted to hit, trying to PR. So to come out and win and get another season’s best and outright win by a full meter was a really nice way to end my season.”

Fisk said that winning on her home turf made the win even more special than it already was.

“If it’s on your home court it’s such a different experience,” Fisk said. “The want to win in your own field and your own ring at your school it’s a little more of a drive because you’re like, ‘This is my home territory I want to defend it,’ so to win here is also so special.”