COLUMBIA FALLS — Last year Lane Voermans won a state championship for discus at the Class A level as a sophomore. Now in his junior year, he's looking to defend his crown.
"The work is hard, but I enjoy it," said Voermans. "I just I love throwing, and it's one of the most fun things for me to do."
Voermans currently ranks second in Class A for discus with a throw of 166 feet. He also ranks fifth for the shot put with a distance of 52-4, and he’s hoping to improve on both of those marks come time for the state meet.
"I mean, I feel pretty good about it, I've been working nonstop," said Voermans. "Ever since mid-January with form and technique and stuff. So I feel pretty good about potentially getting one. I'm not saying I will, not saying I won't, right? It's just a matter of who's gonna throw further on that day. So you got to prepare yourself the best you can for you to throw as far as you can."
Wildcats coach Jamie Heinz witnessed Voermans win state for discuss last year, and he credits the impressive feat at such a young age all to his willingness to learn.
"He is extremely coachable, extremely coachable, and again bringing that into a team where he's very talented," said Heinz. "Yet other people are looking at him and saying, you know, he's willing to take coaching and get better and he's not happy with where he's at. So, his time commitment and his coachability make him amazing."
While he enjoys the individual accolades, Voerman’s love for track and field is about much more than that.
"It's just everybody, like I said I'm pretty good friends with the sprinters as well, a lot of them I've played football with and other outside activities with," said Voermans. "And I just love them. That's just the team aspect of it; I'm not in it for myself, I'm in it to do my best for what I can for this team."
With State inching closer there’s no doubt things will continue to ramp up for Voermans as he prepares to defend his discuss title alongside chasing another in shot put, and Heinz has confidence he can get it done.
"Lane understands that he's the defending state champion and it's going to take his best effort at state to accomplish what he did again last year," said Heinz. "But by all means, his ultimate goal is to be a state champion in both events, and he would for sure love to do that this year and then come back and defend it next year."
Voermans will look to repeat as the discus state champion and chase the shot put title in Laurel at the Class A state track and field meet on May 24 and May 25.
