Sunday, June 25, 2017
From the first throw to her last, Lindsay Baker dominated the state tournament.
The East Liverpool senior won the Division II shot put to be the Mahoning Valley’s only state champion in track in 2017.
“I knew that my first throw when I threw it, it was the winner. It was crazy at that time, but I knew I had to throw farther,” Baker said. “When I got to the last throw, I knew that I won and it was just an emotional throw.”
All of her throws that counted would have been enough to capture the gold medal. Her best throw — her third — came in 45 feet, 8.50 inches. It was a little more than two feet farther than the runner-up.
“I cried, I hugged everyone and they were crying,” Baker said of completing the last throw. “I was a mess.”
Baker is the Potters’ first state champion in girls track since 1983. She received a hero’s departure and welcome from East Liverpool’s fire and police departments before and after the tournament. She had 15 people travel with her to Columbus even though she was the school’s only state qualifier.
“It’s a pretty great feeling, I know the whole town is behind me,” Baker said. “There’s all the support from them and I had a great group of people down there with me.”
Baker took the gold in her first time qualifying for state in shot put. She previously had made the tournament exclusively as a discus thrower. She took third in the discus this season.
She’ll continue to throw for Ashland this fall.