Anybody not including Sedona Red Rock High School in the conversation over Arizona’s top track and field contenders should see how far Hannah Ringel can throw them.

“I didn’t expect myself to be throwing what I am now,” she said. “I had it in my mind, ‘I’ll never throw what I threw in State last year. It’s going to take me so long.’

“Then I threw it again in one of my first meets and I was like, ‘Oh, wow. I guess this is attainable.’”

Since a fourth-place finish as a freshman in last spring’s Division III state shot put competition, throwing
36 feet, 11 inches, the Scorpions sophomore has brought home a gold or silver medal in the event, winning her last four meets outright prior to March 21.

That day was the exception that is proving the rule for Ringel, as she threw her personal best in the shot put to finish fifth among the West’s elite throwers at the Nike Rotary Invitational in Chandler.

“Every meet that comes, it’s closer to State, so I get more pumped,” Ringel said. “I’m like, ‘I’m going to make this my best meet.’”

For the full story, please see the Friday, March 27, issue of the Sedona Red Rock News.