FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Evan O’Kelly Director of Communications O: (406) 657-2130 E: evan.okelly@msubillings.edu Wednesday, March 22, 2017 New Faces: MSUB Track & Field Freshman Kassadee Kuoha
Starting her career as a throws specialist on MSUB’s track and field team, freshman Kassadee Kuoha is taking the first strides towards a memorable career as a Yellowjacket. MSUB SPORTS – Kassadee Kuoha is far from being done yet. The Burley, Idaho native has already established herself as the leading thrower at Montana State University Billings in only her first year as a Yellowjacket. She improved her marks in the weight throw by nearly four meters in the course of just over two months, culminating with a season-best toss of 13.53 meters at the Mountain State Games on Feb. 11. However, teammates and coaches alike are aware that it is only the beginning of what is certain to be continued improvement.
“Actually, I thought it was super bad,” Kuoha commented on her team-leading throw last month in her home state. “I thought I could have finished out better, but I looked at (assistant coach) Anica Knispel and realized it must have been a good throw because she seemed excited. There is still room for improvement though.” “She was happy with the throw, but she was quick to point out what she did wrong and could have done better,” said MSUB assistant coach Jon Woehl. “That’s what I am excited about, because she will continue to get the technique down and that will all eventually click together.” To this point in her collegiate career, Kuoha has gotten away with using her pure strength to attain her lofty marks. Woehl and the coaching staff are certain that as she continues to focus on her form and developing her throwing mechanics, the weight will carry further each time she lets it fly. Considering her independent background during her prep career at Burley High School, it’s easy to see why she still has much work to do in mastering her craft. “I did not have a coach my junior or senior year for track, so I basically had to help coach my teammates,” Kuoha explained. “I was helping other people, but I didn’t really have anyone working on skills with me. It’s nice to have a coach now who can pinpoint what I am doing wrong and how to fix it.” In Woehl’s eyes, Kuoha’s raw ability as an athlete is what he was most excited about during the recruiting process. “Kassadee has great physical attributes for a thrower, and she had decent marks in high school despite a lack of coaching,” said Woehl. Arriving on a college campus that was as large as her hometown, Kuoha needed to adjust to her new surroundings at MSUB last fall. She has quickly adapted to a large city in her perspective, and credits her teammates Miranda Livingston, Taylor Stringari, and Hailey Steinbeisser with helping her break out of her shell. “Once I visited MSUB, I knew that I wanted to do this and I fell in love with the school,” said Kuoha. “Jon has played a big role in being flexible with my schedule, so I could pursue my EMT major along with throwing.” Learning a new element in the weight throw has been a big challenge for Kuoha, as she hadn’t worked with the event until reaching college. For an athlete who prides herself on being parallel to the competition, her early struggles were frustrating. “I was really stubborn about it at first, and when I am not good at something it really bothers me,” Kuoha said. “As soon as I got the hang of the weight throw, I really got into it and started to like it.” “Kassadee is critical of herself at times, and even though she is really friendly, she comes off as very competitive,” Woehl said. “She wants to go out and beat people. She wants to improve and if she doesn’t, that kind of lights a fire for her which is absolutely a good thing.” Kuoha competing at the 2017 GNAC Indoor Championships in February.
Helping Kuoha through her early difficulty in the throwing events was junior Nels Flanagan, a veteran leader on the track and field squad who has experience with each of the various throwing elements. “Nels was very supportive and was able to pinpoint a lot of the things I can improve on,” Kuoha said. “I definitely want to be as good as him in the weight and hammer eventually.” Kuoha is preparing for her first outdoor season, as the Yellowjackets open the spring at Montana State University on Saturday in Bozeman. Among her long-term goals is surpassing the school-record in the hammer throw of 149-2 held by Knispel, and she is also looking forward to her favorite event of the spring, the discus. “For the outdoor season, I hope that she will get a lot more consistent in the discus and I am excited to see how she’ll do with the hammer,” Woehl said. “Eventually, I really believe that she can attack Anica’s school record in the hammer.” While Kuoha works towards school records, she also has ambitions to become an EMT with the possibility of teaching in her future as well. She cites one of her high-school instructors, Shauna Bingham, as helping to shape her life and inspiring her to return the favor one day to a student who was in her shoes. The notion extends to her spot on MSUB’s track team as well, as she hopes to mentor young throwers in the future and build on the advice she has received this year from the Yellowjacket veterans. “I want to be a good teammate,” Kuoha said. “When the next freshmen come in, I want to help them just like Nels and Brady (Ostermiller) helped me. The relationships I have made here are the most special part about MSUB.” It’s clear Kuoha has the right mindset to attack not only the school throws records, but also her studies as she pursues her degree. Her competitive attitude gives reason to believe that she is indeed, far from being done yet. “I am really excited to watch her improve and we can already see that with her weight throw in the indoor season,” said Woehl. “She got on a streak there the last few meets, and every meet she kept adding distance. She took some huge steps forward at the end of the indoor season, and hopefully that carries over to the outdoor season and for the rest of her career.”
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