St. Joseph Catholic School’s Roury McCloyen has a passion for track and field. When you are as good as he is, you don’t take a day off.
That’s why McCloyen was hard at work on Thursday, even though it was just a day after he broke a 40-year-old MAIS Class 2A state record for throwing the shot put.
McLoyen’s winning throw of 55 feet, five inches came at the MAIS Class 2A South State Track Meet at Canton Academy. His throw broke the old mark by four inches.
“It was really cool that I broke the state record, but, honestly, I can usually throw even father than that each day at practice,” McLoyen said.
McLoyen has been throwing both the shot put and the discus since he was in the seventh grade. Over the past five years, he has learned how to fine tune his technique for optimum distance.
“I have been doing this forever and I have gotten good at it, and because I got good at it, I have really started liking it,” he said.
McCloyen now hopes to transfer this talent into a college scholarship, he said.
St. Joseph track coach John Baker said McLoyen deserves credit for all of his success. McLoyen dedicates the entire year to be the best thrower he can be. This vigorous training regiment includes an intense weight lifting schedule.
While McLoyen has worked hard for his own success, Coach Baker said there was one big thing he did that helped improve the young track stars performance.
“A few years ago, we were at a track meet and Roury wasn’t doing so good. He was in fourth place and he had just one throw left. So I told him to try yelling when you throw it. And, he let out a big scream while he threw his last throw. And, wouldn’t you know, he wound up throwing the longest throw of the meet and came back to win,” Coach Baker said.
These days McLoyen, like his coach advised, still screams with each throw. His voice, along with his record throws, are being heard throughout the state.
