Bero medals in state debut
Trending
DAYTON - There are some individuals who focus on one or two sports and make that their year-round pursuit. There are also some athletes who try to compete in as many different sports as possible.
Count Boardman junior Sarah Bero in the latter of those two categories. She ended a lengthy school year with a fifth-place podium finish in the Division I girl's shot put on Saturday, marking a 39-17.5 in her state meet debut. Later in the day, she'd go on to compete in the discus, placing 14th with a 113-10.
"I guess it's all about just having the right mindset, staying positive and being consistent with your throws, that all just lined up for me and I was able to get here," Bero said. "Last year, I got to regionals and placed seventh. The year before I didn't even throw shot put, so this is definitely pretty big for me."
Bero was the Spartans' first girls regional champion in 21 years following her event win in the shot put at Fitch a few weeks ago. She originally had run track, throwing discus her freshman season and adding shot put into the mix just last year.
"I just wanted to try something new and found that I was pretty good at it," Bero said. "Throwing is a lot different environment-wise, and it's a lot of fun. You just have to keep telling yourself that you belong and just to throw far.
"I find shot put a little easier I would say, discus is a lot more technical and there's a lot more things that can go wrong, but both are equally difficult."
The shot put throwing area was placed in the northeast end of Welcome Stadium, with fans packed in behind the fence, piled in on top of the action. Hundreds of others who couldn't make it into the limited seating area watch from the east side bleachers, creating a sizable crowd.
A large LED video board displayed each athlete's name and their mark after every attempt, creating a much more upscale vibe compared to most throwing rings during the high school season.
"It's a really fun atmosphere, there's a lot of fans. A lot of people cheering, a lot of people watching, it's really nice to have people watching shot put because nobody ever really gets to, so it's a good to have a crowd over there, I think it definitely improves performances and things like that, it's nice." Bero said.
She also competes on Boardman's soccer and cross country teams during the fall, adding in basketball during the winter, then moving from track meet to track meet in the spring. It's a grind, but one that the junior feels that she thrives in.
"Me, personally, I love doing a lot of sports, then switching, and then doing a different one. That's what keeps me going is being able to do different things all year long. I just like the change and I like the different teams and I like the different things that you have to do, it's fun," Bero said. "Cross country is not one of my strong suits, but I just do it for fun and conditioning for soccer and basketball. They're so far apart, you're at the end of the year. The beginning of the year feels so far away. It's hard to even remember that I ran cross country, but I did.
"I am very motivated to do better, I'm not completely satisfied with my performance (here at state in the shot), but I'm never really satisfied with my performance, so I'm just excited to come back and do better next year."
Have an interesting story? Contact the Sports Department by email at sports@tribtoday.com. Follow us on X, formerly Twitter, @TribChronSports.