Notre Dame's Menz re-commitment to discus, shot put leads her to Class 3 state meet

Jessica Menz admits she checked out.

The Notre Dame senior was done with the shot put and discus.

"A few weeks ago, I just gave up," she said. "I was like at least I've still got softball to go to. Then when coach [Lawrence] Brookins pulled me aside, it changed my ideas when he said you really could win a state title. That really clicked for me, so I've been working a lot harder."

Brookins, the Bulldogs' throwing coach, refused to allow Menz to end her high school career on a sour note.

"She's had too good a year athletically for it to wind up in a ditch like it was headed to," Brookins said. "She was really down. I re-emphasized that to her over and over again -- you've had such a good year ... why do you want to go out with a whimper? Let's go out with a bang. You've worked too hard. And to her credit, she responded very good."

It took one afternoon for Brookins to help Menz turn around her season. The two met away from Notre Dame, and Brookins said he started from the beginning with Menz's approach.

"I broke her technique down from the ground on up," he said. "I treated her like she'd never thrown the shot before, never thrown the discus before. She handled it well. Responded to everything I asked."

Toward the end of the session, Brookins offered a challenge.

"She had been hesitant to spin in the discus, to do the full rotational movement across the ring," he said. "She was either just standing at the front or doing a modified spin. I told her that day that while we're at it, while we're trying to get ourself righted, you need to go ahead and just pick up the spin now. She was a little hesitant at first, but she listened and did well."

Menz said that suggestion changed everything. She credits that change for her Class 3 Sectional 1 title in the discus last weekend. Her throw of 128 feet, 8 inches was the second best in the state in any of the Class 3 sectional meets.

"She discovered pretty quick this isn't that difficult after all," Brookins said. "To prove it to her, at the end of our session, I had her do her last three throws with her eyes closed. I said, 'You're an athlete. You can get across that ring and deliver a decent looking throw without even having your eyes open.' She did it and threw really well. We stopped right there and ended on a good note."

Menz said it took about a week for her to feel comfortable with the new technique. That was the week before the Class 3 District 1 meet, where she threw 122-4 to win the district title. She followed that with a school-record 128-2 in the sectional round.

"I was just standing there watching it and went, 'Yes,'" she said. "It felt just perfect."

Menz will compete in both the discus and shot put at this weekend's state meet in Jefferson City, Mo. She was fourth in the shot put at the sectional meet, where teammate Myriah Bernard won the title.

Athletic success is nothing new for Menz. She was named the co-Southeast Missourian player of the year for softball after posting a .516 batting average with 44 RBIs and 30 runs scored for the Bulldogs. She already signed a letter of intent to play softball at Three Rivers College in Poplar Bluff, Mo., in the fall. But she couldn't overcome her struggles during the track and field season until the session with Brookins.

"I wasn't throwing good, so it made me mad so I threw worse," she said.

Menz said Brookins' recommendation to add the full spin wasn't the only benefit from their session. She said one almost as important was a mental boost.

"When someone has faith in me, that gives me a lot of extra stuff behind me," she said. "Just someone saying I can do it makes me believe I can do it."

Menz hopes to reward that faith this weekend. She's played in the softball final four, which she hopes will calm her nerves this weekend.

"I just seems to be more cool and down with this sport," she said. "More of a mellow mood."

But that doesn't mean she isn't eager to finish her high school career with a bang. There's one goal she has in mind, which seemed nearly impossible just three weeks ago.

"I want to get a state title," she said. "I want to get my name up on that individual state board in the gym."