Columbus North’s Moana Steele watches her throw in the shot put during a meet against Columbus East Thursday at Columbus North High School.
Tommy Walker | For The Republic
Moana Steele has always been one of the tallest girls in her class, so she naturally gravitated toward basketball and volleyball.
“I’m tall,” Steele said. “We’re in Indiana. I have to play basketball and volleyball.”
But when she was in middle school, Steele picked up another sport — track and field. Then, after undergoing knee surgery and having to give up basketball prior to her junior year at Columbus North, the 6-foot-2 Steele focused more intently on throwing the shot and discus.
Since then, Steele’s throws have improved. The senior, who served as a manager for the girls basketball team the past two years, now ranks among the top 20 in the state in the shot put.
“My mom always kind of suggested throwing to me, but I never did it,” Steele said. “Then, in middle school, I wanted to do track because I wanted to get this six-sport award. But I don’t run. I die when I run, and I heard that you didn’t have to run for throwing. So I decided to try it out, and it worked for me.”
On Thursday, Steele set two personal-bests in a dual meet win against Columbus East. She threw 39 feet, 3 1/2 inches in the shot and 110-8 in the discus.
Steele’s PR in the discus was her first in two years.
“Last year, I really only power threw,” Steele said. “This year, I’ve started getting my spin down, and that adds extra feet. I had some trouble this year trying to get it inbounds (with the spin), and this was the first time they’ve been able to measure inbounds.”
On Saturday, Steele came back with another PR in the shot when she threw 39-9 to finish second in the Pike Invitational.
“Part of it is, my teammates are there, and they’re supporting me,” Steele said. “As soon as I step in the ring, you can hear them all cheering for me. After I got the big PR against East, four of my teammates came up to me and were like, ‘Good job,’ and were giving me high-fives. Just our atmosphere, that really helps. It makes a difference to us.”
Drew Foster, who took over for Jordan Sharp as North’s throwing coach this season, said Steele has put in the work to become a better thrower.
“She has really started hitting drills heavy,” Foster said. “I kind of came in this year with an emphasis to drill quite a bit and to break down the throw and work on specific parts, and she really got on board with that, and she really started getting her hips through the throw and finishing as hard as she can with a strong left arm. In throwing, those are two really big key pieces.
“She’s come into it with a pretty good attitude this year, and I think she saw the writing on the wall that she could be really successful at this,” he added. “She just bought in. One thing to remember is, these seniors didn’t have a freshman year because of COVID, so she was starting behind. That makes it all the more impressive what she’s been able to do.”
Steele won’t be the favorite in her next meet. The Bull Dogs are competing in the Conference Indiana meet on Friday, and host Bloomington North has the state’s and one of the nation’s top throwers in Hadley Lucas.
“I have a goal to beat Hadley eventually, but she has so much going on right now,” Steele said. “Second is the place to be for right now.”
Last year, Steele finished eighth in the shot at the Franklin Regional. She is hoping to move up into the top three this year, which would earn her a trip to the state finals.
“Making it to state was a big one for me because it’s my senior year,” Steele said. “Since I was a sophomore and realized I could potentially excel at this, I was like, ‘State, I need to get there.’”
A National Honor Society member, Steele is planning to attend Indiana University and major in international law. She is hoping she can land a spot throwing for the Hoosiers track squad.
“It’s the goal,” Steele said. “I would like to. It would be fun. But I’d have to throw a pretty big PR to be able to throw there. I still have a couple of feet to go.”
