DANE FUELLING
WZBD.com
Athletes from all over northeast Indiana will converge on Carroll High School’s athletic facilities tonight to take their best shot at punching their ticket to the IHSAA State Finals at Indiana University. For Heritage junior Maya Gerber, Tuesday’s meet is an opportunity to showcase her skills and proclaim herself as one of the best throwers in her class in Indiana.
Gerber has not gotten to the elite level without hard work and determination, along with overcoming a bit of fear about expanding her repertoire.
“I can honestly say that she was a little intimidated last year about adding discus,” says Heritage coach Jason Habisch. “As a freshman she didn’t throw it, but as a junior she has made huge strides forward.”
The junior qualified directly for the discus at Tuesday’s regional with a second-place finish and she received a callback for the shot.
Gerber downplayed her performance in the shot put, telling WZBD’s Randy Hisner last Tuesday: “It wasn’t my best, but we are planning to bounce back.”
If she can find the distance she recorded at the Patriot Relays earlier this season (40-08), Gerber is likely one of the top ten throwers in the state and could threaten to put the Patriots on the scoreboard at the state meet.
In the discus at New Haven for sectional, Gerber abandoned her traditional spin throw after two poor attempts and went with a standing throw instead.
It worked.
“Maya is a very dynamic and powerful athlete which shows even more in the shot put,” says Habisch.”
Gerber was third at the ACAC meet this year in the discus, throwing 116-03 and finishing behind Lauren Reiff of Bluffton and Gabi Bilbrey of Jay County. She won the shot put, however, with a throw of 39-02, which put her comfortably ahead of both Reiff and Bilbrey.
Gerber has also gone head-to-head with New Haven’s Makenna Dommer. In late April, Dommer won the discus over Gerber by 12 feet, but Gerber got her Bulldog rival by three feet in the shot.
Maya set her PR in the sectional meet, climbing all the way to 118-01 to finish second behind Dommer, who was just 19 inches better.
Looking at last year’s discus results at the IHSAA State Finals, only 12 girls exceeded Gerber’s mark of 118 feet from sectional, showing just how good Gerber has been over the past two months.
“Maya works very hard and shows up every day with the intent of getting better,” says her coach, “and that’s all I can ask of any athlete.”
Whether she qualifies for the state meet in the shot put or discus, both or none, the season has already been a success for the Heritage junior.
“She is a joy to coach and part of a great crew of throwers here at Heritage.”