Starting to Shine

By: D. Scott Fritchen

Imagine the nerves. There stood Tamaiah Koonce inside the ring on a sunny day in March, spinning and spinning and spinning, and with each spin while holding that discus, she couldn't help but spot her father and her uncles, some 12 feet away from the ring at Cobb Stadium in Coral Gables, Florida. The Kansas State sophomore had soaked up her homecoming. Her mother cooked dinner for all 50 of her teammates the night before. Coming home, this was how it was going to be, K-State throws coach Greg Watson told her a year ago, when he informed her that K-State would compete in the Hurricane Invitational: She would get to compete in front of all her family and friends for her first time as a collegiate athlete.

It was a dream. And how many college sophomores reach their dream? But it was the nerves that snapped her to reality as she spun and spun again, seeing her family cheering, as she fought through the storm.

There was always a sense of calmness when she threw the discus. Alone with Watson at practice in Manhattan, just the pupil and the student, Koonce could throw away stress while throwing up some brilliant distances. This was her craft, and she was in command. She had been the baby of the bunch on the K-State Track & Field throws team as a freshman. She grew up in a hurry. And while there had been nerves, sure, as a sophomore she tossed them aside and delivered.

"I'm a competitor," she says. "Even with the pressure and the nerves I've found the calm in the storm."

But would the pressure and the nerves get to her at the Hurricane Invitational? She was back home in Miami, where she won the 2022 FHSAA 4A state championship in discus with a distance of 48.72 meters. Although she had thrown inside Cobb Stadium before as a high schooler with big dreams, it was nothing like this. Would the nerves win?

HURRICANE INVITATIONAL RESULTS

Attempt 1: Foul

Attempt 2: Foul.

Attempt 3: …

…Funny thing about Attempt 3. That was when it all came together for Koonce. She had fouled off her first two attempts. Her third attempt would decide things. And as she spun and spun and spun, everything became calm.

She saw her family. And then she unfurled the greatest discus throw of her collegiate career — 54.47 meters.

It was more than a foot better than her previous personal best.

"I felt it in my soul," she says. "I knew I had thrown a PR, but really, I had been having such great practices and had thrown a lot farther that I had high hopes of throwing it even farther. In due time, it'll happen.

"(Watson) said, 'I'm glad you didn't get the PR you wanted, because you're not going to take your foot off the gas.'"

She pauses.

"In time," she says, "I'll get it."

She'll get her chance to improve upon her personal best when she competes this weekend in the Jim Click Shootout in Tucson, Arizona.

"I know nothing about Arizona," she says. "I've never been to Arizona."

She laughs.

"Hey," she continues, "I didn't know anything about the state of Kansas, and I signed my life away to come here."

All the Florida colleges wanted Koonce. Growing up, Ole Miss was her dream school. She took an official visit to University, Mississippi. Thought it was OK. But it didn't have the downhome feel of Manhattan. K-State contacted Koonce for the first time in January of 2022 — entirely late in the recruiting process with high school graduation four months away. Her first thought?

"Kansas? Oh no, I'm not doing that," Koonce says, laughing again. "When I went on my official visit, I fell in love with the school. I came up here and it wasn't too cold, it was a warm day, but there was snow on the ground. I'd never seen snow before. But this place was very family oriented. It felt like home."

After Koonce committed to K-State, Watson flew down and visited her high school, watched her practice, and all the kids were like, "Oh, my gosh, Tamaiah!" which made her feel good. Her family invited him to their home for dinner. They ate tacos and visited about life.

And life came calling soon after Timothy, her father, dropped her off at her apartment in Manhattan. She called her mother, Dina, and said, "Oh my gosh, I'm alone. Dad just left me."

"Dad left and it was scary," Tamaiah says. "It was a big shift living independently."

She continued to grow. And now she commands the ring. In the battle of the storm, it's the calmness — not the nerves — that win.

"I'm coming for it this year," she says. "This year is going to be my year. It's all starting to click. I'm training with intention this year because I really want to win that Big 12 Championship. That's on my mind every day.

"Last year, I was training more to show that I had potential. This year, I really want to shine."

She passed an impressive test at the Hurricane Invitational. She spun and spun and spun away the nerves when she needed to the most and delivered the best throw of her collegiate career in front of her family. It's a story she can share the rest of her life.

"Coach let me in a little secret, 'We're going to Miami next year,' and I was so excited," she says. "I counted down the days. I told everyone to come. There was definitely anxiety going into the meet."

Followed by calmness.

Followed by a personal best.

Followed by a legitimate shot at a Big 12 title.

Kansas State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Tamaiah Koonce

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