The “field” portion of track and field is, in essence, a lot of preparation for a moment in the ring.

No one knows that better than Aberdeen Central senior Taryn Hermansen, who is the defending State AA champion in the shot put and recently unleashed one of the best all-time throws in that discipline.

“It’s pretty awesome,” Hermansen said of her throw, which topped the 48-foot mark. 

Hermansen said she earned her way on to the state’s all-time list last season, but this year’s effort set the new standard in Class AA and puts her second all-time.

But she is still not yet satisfied. 

“I want to get that 50-foot mark, and when I get that, I want to get that state record,” she said.

But it’s not merely a matter of stepping in the ring and giving the shot the ol’ heave-ho. Hermansen’s journey to the top started before she ever put on a Golden Eagle jersey.

“It’s definitely not easy, for sure,” she said. “It starts all the way back in middle school. I was working since sixth grade, lifting, footwork. There’s so many things that go into a throw that takes one second, truthfully. It’s the hard work you put in.”

But the hardest thing to get right in the ring has nothing to do with getting in the right lift in the weight room, or the right series of steps or even the right recovery methods post-meet. Instead, it has everything to do with getting it right in your head first.

“Sometimes the best way to compete is having something to go chase,” Hermansen said. “But when there’s no one physically there to go chase, you’re always chasing yourself. So mentally, just how to show up and have that competitive mindset when it’s not always easy to.”

Hermansen said the biggest leap forward her throwing career has seen happened when former Northern State thrower Nick Olson came on the scene, giving her a fresh perspective after several seasons of being coached by her father.

“My dad was a great coach, but it’s sometimes hard to figure out the coach/dad relationship,” Hermansen said. “So when Nick came, he just brought so many different perspectives to explain how I can change my throw. When you can hear it said in a different way, sometimes it makes it click better in your head so you can go do it correctly.”

Hermansen also credits her time spent playing other sports for some of her success in the ring. She was a steady presence for the Golden Eagles on the basketball court, and says being able to play multiple sports has a symbiotic sort of effect – each sport helps another in some way.

“Getting to be in all those different atmospheres, it helps you mentally,” she said. “And track is big into footwork. If you don’t get good footwork, you can’t get a good throw off. In basketball, being a post having to figure out how to move your body the right way to get the right position has helped me a lot in track. There’s carryover in everything.”

This past weekend Hermansen defended her shot put title at the Eastern South Dakota Conference meet and also established a new career best mark in the discus.

Still, Hermansen, who is headed to throw at the University of South Dakota next season, doesn’t want her legacy as a Golden Eagle to end in a number.

“When someone hears my name, I don’t want them to first think about, ‘Oh, she was an amazing athlete and she did this, this and this,’ “ she said. “I want them to think about the person I was because when it comes down to it, no one’s going to remember how far you threw something or how many points you scored in a basketball game, they’re going to remember the kind of person you were despite all those things. I want to make sure I leave behind a legacy where I inspire people to go play a sport and go play to the best of their abilities, and besides all that, to go be a good person.”