Mike Wolanin | The Republic Columbus North’s Emma Martin throws the discus during track and field practice at Columbus North High School in Columbus, Ind., Tuesday, April 19, 2022.
Mike Wolanin | The Republic
Emma Martin grew up going track and field meets at Columbus East, where her father Jonathan is the Olympians throwing coach.
Tonight, Emma will be throwing the shot and discus for the first time in a high school meet at East, but she’ll be doing it for crosstown rival Columbus North. The Bull Dogs will visit the Olympians for their annual dual meet beginning at 5:30 p.m.
“She’s my daughter, and I’m going to coach her for the rest of our lives,” Jonathan said. “It didn’t matter if it was North or East because I’m her dad. Yeah, I thought I’d get an opportunity to coach her, but I still get to see her.”
Now a senior, Emma has competed in home meets against the Olympians as a freshman and junior. But her sophomore year, when North was supposed to compete at East, the season was canceled because of the COVID pandemic.
Emma knows most of the Olympian throwers and went there to hang out and get a few throws in on Saturday when North did not have practice. Jonathan has been the throwing coach at East for three decades.
“He’s pretty much just like a second coach, so that’s nice,” Emma said. “(North throwing coach Jordan) Sharp and him both give the same information, but sometimes, it just comes a different way. I hear a lot of the same things, so now, I just have to put it all together.”
Emma has been able to put things together of late. She won the discus in the Bull Dogs’ most recent dual meet against Seymour.
“It was definitely a really good feeling because I finally got to prove that all of my work has paid off,” Emma said. “I’m really proud of myself. I feel like I’ve come a really long way because my freshman year, I was only throwing like 80 feet. I just want to win as many meets as I can and keep making improvements in my technique. I want those measurements to go further.”
Last year, Emma threw just a few inches short of 100 feet in making the sectional finals. She has thrown 100-10 in a meet this season and has been around 110 feet in practice.
“I’ve really been focusing on my technique and hitting all of my points because discus is very technical, and if you don’t hit your points, it’s just not going to be as good,” Emma said. “I just focus on my technique.”
“Coach Sharp has done a real good job with her working on her skills and her technique, and Emma has done a real good job of buying into what coach Sharp has been teaching her,” Jonathan added. “Working hard in the weight room and in the ring, she’s been able to put herself in position to be the No. 1 (discus) thrower there. She’s always had some good athletes in front of her, and now it’s her opportunity to shine and do her best.”
Jonathan comes to Emma’s meets on days the Olympians aren’t competing and takes video of Emma’s throws. When he critiques them, she often says, Yeah, coach Sharp said the same thing.”
“Coach Martin does a great job over there, and he’s developed some really good throwers throughout the years, and the fact that Emma is able to rely on him is a testament to where she’s at now, the fact that she’s had that access to coaching her entire life,” Sharp said. “It’s super beneficial.”
Among Jonathan’s top throwers at East has been Rhett Myers, the 2016 state runner-up in the boys discus. He also has coached multiple girls who have qualified for state in the shot or discus.
But when it came time for Emma to decide where to go to high school, she picked North.
“It was really just because of my friends,” Emma said. “All of my friends came here. I just thought that this would be a better fit. Before my freshman year, East was always my home, but then I came to the open house here, and I just loved it.”
Emma also played volleyball for the Bull Dogs and was a part-time starter the past two years as a defensive specialist.
“It’s definitely a different experience than track,” Emma said. “Track is a little more laid back, and you just have a little bit more freedom. Volleyball is really, follow the rules, so it’s just a different experience. They’re both fun. They’re both amazing sports.”
Jonathan said when schools were shut down in the spring of 2020 because of the pandemic, he still was able to get Emma into the track at East to throw. They couldn’t get into the weight room at either school, but they have a full rack of weights in their garage at home that she was able to use.
“When the pandemic hit, that was hard on a lot of the kids, but Emma did the best she could,” Jonathan said. “She said, ‘I’m not going to lose anything that I built up.’ She got her strength built up, and she’s worked hard to become a good discus thrower. I’ve always told her, ‘Work hard, be a leader and have fun,’ and she’s always worked to achieve those things.”
Sharp has noticed that leadership in Emma, who plans to attend Indiana University and major in nursing.
“Emma is a really special leader on this team,” Sharp said. “She takes the throws very seriously. She always has. It’s in her blood. Her ability continues to grow and grow. She works really hard in the weight room. She’s one of the strongest girls in the school, and I just think it’s kind of her time to shine in terms of throwing distance.”
Fortunately for her, she has not one, but two accomplished coaches. Sharp coaches North’s Tucker Smith, who won the shot at last year’s state meet and set an all-time state record and the state meet record.
Jonathan competed in football, wrestling and track at North, graduating in 1987, before becoming the long snapper on IU’s football team 1987-92. He now teaches physical education at Richards Elementary and has been assistant football and coach at East since 1992.
“I’ve been coaching at East for 30 years, and I graduated from Columbus North and decided the football is brown and funny shaped no matter where you’re at,” Jonathan said. “I kind of take that philosophy with everybody. They’re all Columbus kids, and I’m going to coach whoever wants me to coach them.”
