Former Highland thrower Kesner turns in strong freshman season at Iliinois State

Taylor Kesner was simply hoping to fit in and contribute when she went to Illinois State last year to compete with the Redbirds women’s track team as a thrower.

Kesner, a 2021 Highland High School grad, ended up being significantly more than that as she helped her club thrive during the indoor and outdoor season and ultimately win the Missouri Valley Conference women’s championship this spring.

It was a freshman season that left Kesner feeling really good about her future at Illinois State.

“It think (the year) went amazing,” Kesner said. “In the beginning, it was a little hard because I was trying to figure everything out along with school and other things that come with going to college. And, at the end, I think it all came together; overall, it was amazing.”

Success came early for Kesner as she started the indoor season with a strong performance in the John Coughlin Invitational on Dec. 4 at Illinois State in Normal.

Kesner finished third in the weight throws with a 15.26-meter toss and then placed fifth in the shot put with a throw of 12.15 meters.

“I threw like 15 in the weight and threw like 15 meters five times out of the six times. I didn’t realize how big of a deal it was to do that until after the indoor season was over, but that was one of best ones (meets),” Kesner said. “We were so relaxed and I had no stress on me with my first time throw it so it was like no big deal.”

Kesner transitioned from the indoor season after February into the outdoor season in March.

During the outdoor season this spring, Kesner competed in the weights, the shot put, discus, javelin, and hammer throw.

It all came together in the weight events for Kesner from May 13-15 when she and the Redbirds competed in the Missouri Valley Championships at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.

Kesner competed in the shot put and threw 11.8 meters to finish in 13th place overall. But Kesner’s big day in the discus is what got her to the podium.

After struggling in the shot, Kesner fired off an amazing throw of 48.63 meters to take second place in the discus. It was Kesner’s first MVC meet and the performance left her exhilarated.

“I remember I came in and I knew the more events I threw, the better I would do because if I threw just one event I would be down on myself all weekend, but throwing all four definitely allowed me to go on to the next event,” Kesner said. “You just have to keep going and show up for your team. We got (the) conference (championship) and I ended up being on the podium. It was a great feeling.”

Kesner competed in the shot, discus, javelin, and hammer throw and her second-place discus finish helped the Illinois State women win their fourth-straight MVC championship.

Mental side of college athletics, success in classroom

While the physical side of transitioning to college competition wasn’t a big deal for Kesner, she admitted the mental focus in competing in the weight events in college definitely forced her to adapt.

“In high school, I could kind of always go back to basketball or volleyball and now in college this is my only sport that I’m doing all year-round. It’s kind of hard to get the mental part of it because you’ve got to show up for every meet and be there no matter how you compare to other athletes,” Kesner said. “As a freshman, I definitely did that and definitely should not have and I just had to take it slow because I was in a new world.”

The classroom also was a success for Kesner as she managed a 3.33 grade point average. Kesner is majoring in parks and recreation management.

“The first semester was a little harder because I was tired with meets and everything all the time and I was trying to figure out where I was going and everything,” Kesner said. “The second semester I took fewer classes, so it ended up being a little bit better because I was gone with meets a lot, so my advisor really helps me out with that.”

Prepping for Year 2

When not resting this summer, Kesner has been working out and preparing for her sophomore season. Redbirds throwing coach Amanda Youngblood has her working on a summer workout routine.

“We’ve been doing simple bench (press) and squat stuff and a little bit of clean (and jerk) and dumbbell stuff,” Kesner said. “Then also pretty light throwing and position work where we’re not doing full throws, so I’m doing what I can.”

This story was originally published August 2, 2022 at 6:12 PM.