Freshman thrower Jordan Porter is already making an impact for the Bobcats after being coached throughout the indoor season.
After district and state championships in high school, Ohio freshman Jordan Porter decided to stick with track and field over softball.
That decision has paid dividends with the success she is experiencing so early into her collegiate career.
Porter started throwing in seventh grade and was stronger than the girls in her class, so she stuck with it. After two years of throwing, she took a year hiatus because she was also interested in softball and Chesapeake High School in South Point, Ohio, wouldn’t allow student-athletes to play multiple sports in one season.
But that rule changed the following year and she got back into throwing.
She then stuck with throwing over softball, which ultimately allowed her to join Ohio’s track and field program.
Upon stepping on campus, she has succeeded immensely more so during the outdoor season than the indoor season, because most of her indoor season was spent training with throwing coach Nick Pero.
“We changed a few things from what she did in high school,” Pero said. “We changed her technique, so that’s been an adjustment and a start over type process with the new technique.”
Porter said changing her technique was an important step because she had to re-learn some things. Some events, like the hammer throw, aren’t performed at the high school level and made for new experiences.
“It all has to come together eventually,” she said. “But if you mess up a few little things, it can make a huge difference.
“When you put them all together, once you get them to click, you’re going to see a huge difference.”
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Pero said Porter was easy to coach and a quick leaner and it came to no surprise that she caught on quickly and began to excel.
“In high school, she was a very good thrower,” he said. “So coming in, I expected her to throw well.”
Porter, however, was a bit surprised at her early success.
“I knew I could do fairly well if I threw decent,” she said. “I didn’t necessarily think (about) being one of the better ones, but no, I didn’t expect to place as well as I do now.”
She placed first in the shot put starting the outdoor season at the Wake Forest Open.
The following week, she placed second in the shot put, 16th of 50 in the discus throw and ninth of 45 in the hammer throw at the Winthrop Invitational.
Just this past weekend at home, she placed fourth in the hammer and the discus.
If her success stays consistent, she should receive a Mid-American Conference Championships automatic bid, and could even attain an NCAA bid.
“It’s kind of hard to believe as a freshman you can do something like that,” Porter said.
She said she hasn’t really thought about the MAC Championships, but as the meet gets closer, she will start to feel it.
Thus, she hasn’t had any unsettling nerves going into each meet thinking about the conference meet because she likes to focus on each one at a time. Her success comes from her skill, but she also has support from her coaches and teammates to give her the positive reinforcement from week to week.
Porter said she gets a lot of support from her teammates because they are older.
“Being the only freshman in shot put, I learn a lot from them,” she said. “Even if Nick’s not here, they are always there to help.
“They are very supportive.”
So for Porter, it is now a matter of continuing to achieve personal best marks and getting better. The support is there as well as the skill, and now it all comes down to consistency.
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