West Lauderdale freshman Makena Donald is pictured with a ribbon she received at the MHSAA Region 2-4A track and field meet this past season. Donald eventually win on to place third in the shot put at the Class 4A state meet.

West Lauderdale freshman Makena Donald had no history with track and field before deciding to give the shot put and discus a try this spring.

Donald lifts weights as part of her basketball strength and conditioning routine, and Lady Knights coach Matt Lum suggested to her she had the strength to excel in both field events. After watching a few YouTube videos on throwing the shot put and discus, Donald decided to join the West Lauderdale track and field team.

“I just wanted to try something new,” Donald explained. “I just love the form and how they work at it to get the ball so high in the air. It just fascinated me.”

Even though she was new to it, Donald progressed a lot in a short amount of time. She finished second in regionals for the discus and first in the MHSAA Class 4A North State meet in the shot put, which allowed her to compete at the state meet April 29-30 in Pearl. There, she placed third with a distance of 33-02.75.

West Lauderdale track coach Duran Clark said he was told of Donald’s potential in the field events due to her basketball workouts, and it wasn’t long before Donald began adding distance to her throws once she picked up the shot put and discus.

“I heard Coach Lum mention she was benching really well in the weight room, and then she would go home and work at it and come back and say, ‘I threw another foot, I threw another foot,’” Clark said. “Her perseverance and the effort she gave, I knew she had a shot. It was really satisfying (seeing the progress) because it covers every sport showing that hard work will pay off.”

Clark credited Donald’s work ethic and her ability to self-learn for that progress.

“She had never touched one before basketball season ended,” Clark said. “We looked at a few videos — and she looked at a lot of videos — and she went home and worked at it, and she won a meet at Meridian High, and by the time we got to North State she was a North State champion just because of hard work. It wasn’t like I knew a whole lot about throwing the shot put. I showed her a few things, and she just watched videos and got after it.”

The progress in just a few months brought Donald a lot of satisfaction, especially when it showed up in the results at the North State and state meets.

“I’m proud of myself for being persistent in what I did,” Donald said.

Having a weight-lifting routine also provided Donald the strength she needed for both events.

“I did weights every other day, and it helped me get at least a foot a day,” Donald said. 

Even so, Donald admitted she was surprised she did as well as she did throwing the shot put given how new the sport was to her. She didn’t think she’d get as far as the state meet, but now that she has, Donald said she’s eager to take the next step in her development.

“I’ve set my eye on the prize next year,” Donald said. “It’ll take more work after schools and lifting weights to get to where I need to be — and working out over the summer.”