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All-American Maska gets lift from coach, teammate
3/19/2008
By CONOR NICHOLL
Hays Daily News
Before every competition, Fort Hays State University senior thrower Brady Maska receives a pep talk from first-year assistant coach Casey Jo Wanger, a former Tiger who holds four school records.
"She always gives me words of wisdom that always lift me up and want me to go as far as I can and make me not as nervous as I normally get," Maska said Monday afternoon.
The talk before the NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field National Championships over the weekend in Mankato, Minn. was three text messages long.
Maska had twisted his ankle less than two weeks before the national meet and was forced to spend several days on crutches. He practiced little before nationals and his foot was an amalgam of tape, moleskin and a hard, plastic brace that restricted mobility.
"Her pep talks help me to clear my head about everything I am thinking about and get myself prepared to throw instead of thinking 'Oh, I don't think I am going to be able to because of my foot or 'Man it is just not a good day,'" Maska said. "She told me 'forget about the ankle.'"
Maska, as he did all season, followed Wanger's advice. He took fourth place in the shot put with a throw of 56 feet, 3.75 inches and earned All-American status.
A high school state champion at Hays High and transfer from Barton County Community College, Maska earned his fourth All-American honor in two seasons and second straight in the indoor shot put.
Maska, seventh at indoor shot put last season, joined Casey Seyfert, Jeremy Hawks and Chad Manning as the only throwers in Fort Hays history to finish fourth or better at indoor nationals.
The finish bolstered an impressive all-around career that has seen him dominate the shot put, discus and hammer throw like few others in the nation.
"I don't think there is anybody in the country that can rank as high as him in all three of them, shot put, discus and hammer," Tiger head track and field coach Dennis Weber said.
Helped by strong coordination and technique, Maska, at 6-2, 220 pounds, is 40-50 pounds smaller than most throwers, but consistently beats them.
The bigger athletes can use their strength to put the shot past smaller competition, but Maska's technique and coordination eliminates the size gap.
"He is probably one of the smaller throwers at the national championships, as far as being lean," Weber said. "He uses all of the muscles that he has in the right sequence, as opposed to the real strong guys that just try to muscle it. His strong characteristic is just the ability to maximize the strength that he has."
Assisted by throwing coach Andreas Maheras, a former thrower on the Greek national team, Maska has tweaked his form in his year and a half with the Tiger program.
When he was at Barton County, the throwing coaches wanted Maska wanted him to work on speed.
At Fort Hays, though, Maheras has made Maska a "technique power thrower" instead of a "speed thrower."
"My technique at nationals is probably the best that it has ever been," Maska said. "(Maheras) was showing me in the entrance to my discus or my shot put, I have to slow in the back, but as fast as I possibly can be through the middle to the front.
"With him showing me that, it has helped me not going 100 miles an hour on every throw and hoping that I stay in the ring and not foul," he added.
"He helps me learn the proper way ... so I don't have to worry about falling or throwing in a different direction."
Buoyed by his strong form and Wanger's talks before every meet, Maska enjoyed a strong regular season, including a second place finish at the MIAA meet in the shot put and seventh in the weight throw.
However, on March 4, Maska went outside to work on his discus throwing, his best event. The national runner-up in the discus last spring, Maska is arguably the favorite to win the national title this year.
On one throw, his ankle caught on the discus zone's raised outer circle and be heard some painful pops. He went to the trainers' room and was put on crutches for several days.
Neither Weber nor Maska knew if the Tiger senior could compete in the shot put at nationals.
"There were days that I would try to do a little technique work in the ring or try and run on it," Maska said. "I couldn't hold myself up on one foot for more than two seconds without falling down."
After a few days on crutches, Maska wore a white, think plastic brace that started under the sole of the foot and extended a few inches below the calf.
The brace, which Maska wore to practice and walking around campus, stopped side-to-side rotation. He had few full practices in national preparation and went to Mankato with a trainers' note that allowed him to receive treatment.
Maska had several layers of tape and moleskin, a thick material that hardens around the foot, and the brace to throw. However, his mind still thought about his tender ankle.
Until Wanger stepped in with her text messages -- messages that told Maska to focus throwing, not on his foot.
"Hearing that from a former teammate and coach, makes you think, 'yeah I can go down there and give it a rest before and then go out and put everything I have onto it,' " Maska said.
Maska followed the advice one more time, throwing the shot put over 56 feet and adding another honor to a terrific resume.
"Her pep talks always help," Maska said.
Sports Reporter Conor Nicholl can be reached at (785) 628-1081 Ext. 127 or at cnicholl@dailynews.net.
| Scoreboard | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sport | Date | Opponent | Score |
| BB | 5/11 | Central Missouri | L 4-2 |
| BB | 5/10 | Missouri Western | W 4-3 |
| BB | 5/09 | Emporia State | L 6-5 |
| BB | 5/04 | Pittsburg State | W 17-5 |
| BB | 5/04 | Pittsburg State | L 4-3 |
| BB | 5/03 | Pittsburg State | L 15-7 |
| BB | 5/03 | Pittsburg State | L 5-4 |
| SB | 5/02 | Central Missouri | L 3-1 |
| SB | 5/02 | Missouri Western | W 3-2 |
| SB | 5/01 | Pittsburg State | W 6-0 |
