MHCC thrower looks to leave behind a legacy

With two school records now under her belt, MHCC’s track and field thrower McKenzie Warren is looking to make a name for herself as a Saint.

An Oregon native, Warren attended Sandy High School and has lived in Sandy all her life.

She’s also a veteran athlete.

Warren brings a wealth of experience to track and field since starting the sport in the third grade. Though most elementary schools do not have track and field teams, Warren took the opportunity to take part in a summer track program, where she trained under Doug Bowman, who coincidently is now the throwing coach at MHCC.

Besides her deep roots in track and field, Warren has been active in many other sports, playing on basketball and volleyball teams from fifth grade through her senior year in high school.

She has accumulated numerous honors, including a 2012 Oregon state championship in both the shot put and discus, repeating titles won her junior year.

Despite the fact no Oregon high schools stage the hammer throw event at their meets, Warren was able to break the MHCC school record for the event. The freshman said she has practiced the hammer for several years. Her record throws were 44.24 meters in the discus and 48.04 meters in the hammer throw.

“(Bowman has) been helping me with it since eighth grade,” she said, although she hasn’t had many chances to compete in the event.

That practice certainly paid off. Kicking off her MHCC athletic career at the Eric Anderson Ice Breaker meet, Warren broke two school records, one that stood for three decades.

Asked to list her favorite of three throwing events, she said, “Hammer is definitively my favorite.” She said she finds tossing a large metal sphere on a chain is just “so cool.”

Warren’s three events are all clumped in the throwing category and onlookers might see some similarities in the way they function. Yet, Warren says, each is very different and distinctive in how the throws are carried out.

They have “totally different footwork,” she said. “Sometimes I get messed up in the discus if I’m thinking of the hammer.”

As the Saints enter the mid-season, and with Warren already holding two records, one can wonder if things can get much better for the thrower. But she’s hoping that they really do, right up to NWAACCs.

“I’m doing pretty well. I’m expecting to get better still, so hopefully I will,” she said. As long as she throws equal to or better than she has been, she’ll be satisfied, she said.

As for how she’s able to keep on top of her throws and hit her marks consistently, Warren said composure and execution is key.

“I’m pretty calm. When I do summer track, we go to nationals,” she said, and because of that, she’s used to performing on the big stage.

“I just try to get my mind off (competing). If I think about it too much, it messes me up.”

Warren also brings a good sense of confidence when she competes. She aims to place first at NWAACCs in the shot put, hammer throw and discus. She’s already qualified for the season-ending tournament in all three events.

This Saint also likes to draw some inspiration from others to help her perform. One such athlete is Mac Wilkins, an American discus thrower from Eugene who won the  gold medal at the 1976 Montreal Olympics.

Warren said she practices with the former Olympian sometimes over the summer.

Even if Warren does not go on to break her own records in the upcoming meets, she will have the opportunity to do so next year, as she plans to return to MHCC for her sophomore year. After her time here, Warren hopes to continue on to a four-year university, and she won’t even stop there.

“I want to be a paramedic, so after I finish there I’ll have to go to another two-year college to get my paramedic degree,” she said.

Off the field, her hobbies require a degree of calmness and precision, just like her throwing.

“I like to go hunting. Hunting and camping, those are my favorite things,” Warren said. “Anything outdoors, I like.”

Just as with track and field, her hunting experience runs very deep. She has been hunting most her life, and said her dad has always been big on the sport.

“We hunt mostly deer and elk, with mostly gun and bow,” she said, adding that the bow is very hard to use.

Regardless, whether Warren becomes a paramedic or Olympic thrower (or maybe an Olympic skeet shooter), NWAACC throwers and deer alike should take heed of this Lady Saint, as her limitless energy is bound to take her far.