 Heading into the final weeks of the track
season, Sarah Reasoner felt like she had
something reserved for her last few performances.
An MIAA- and Calvin-record throw of 47-2½ in shot put at the conference meet was one of the
outcomes of that stockpiled energy. Reasoner’s recordsetting
toss earned her top honors in the event.
She coupled that with a throw of 143-9 in the
discus, good for first place in that event as well. It
was the senior’s second MIAA title in the discus and
third in the shot put.
Reasoner then went on to earn All-America honors
at the NCAA III National Championships, claiming
sixth place in the shot put and seventh in the discus.
Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to match her recordsetting
throw in the shot put at nationals. Her top
throw at the national event in shot put was 45-5 ¼;
in the discus she topped out at 143-7. She completes
her Calvin career as a six-time All-American.
The Cambridge, Minn., native came to Calvin
looking for a place where she could “make an impact
on the community.”
“I knew Calvin was a great Christian school with a top liberal arts program and a great track program,” said. “I just wanted to be a part of it.”
Reasoner had had some “minor successes” in high
school, she said, “but this was definitely the right place
for me to be. I blindly trusted what they told me to do
in both events,” she said. “Calvin’s environment teaches
a good athlete what they need to do to be successful.
Calvin has coaches that are well-versed in their art.”
By her second track season, Reasoner already claimed
MIAA titles in both events and earned All-American
honors in the shot put with an eighth-place finish.
The addition of the indoor track season at Calvin two
years ago helped Reasoner improve because of the access
to facilities year round. She finished second nationally
each of the last two years in the shot put.
When she wasn’t throwing the shot or discus, she
perhaps could be found throwing clay. As a studio art
major with a ceramics emphasis, Reasoner spent time
behind a potter’s wheel. “I really enjoyed my art homework,” she said. “It’s so completely different than track.”
It took Reasoner a while to find the right fit in a
major for herself: “I changed majors five times,” she said.
She started in exercise science and after exploring options
in vocal music production, art education and media
production, ended up in studio art.
“I feel like that’s the point of a liberal arts education,” she said, “I think I’m a better, more well-rounded person
because of it.”
For now though, Reasoner finds herself as more of
a major in throwing. She hopes to continue to train and
volunteer coach with the chance of competing at the USA
National Championships in the near future.
After some additional training Reasoner believes
she will be able to take this next step after what she
has learned at Calvin.
“I’m not remotely close to the same person that I
was when I came here,” she said. “Calvin in general has
changed me, and a lot of that is because of track and field.
I learned what it’s like to be a teammate; I feel like I really
know what that means. It’s a whole sense of community.
I’ve also learned tons about myself and how to better
myself. All of these positive things wouldn’t have
happened without the track team.”
Reasoner continued: “Calvin is for student athletes
that want to excel at track because Calvin has the tools,
the coaches, the facilities and the right lessons that can
be given to students that make a top caliber athlete.” |
