Sol Bitners dominates in shot-put and discus

PHOTO: Senior Sol Bitners launches a disc at their practice on May 16. The following day Bitners won the SJS Masters competition with a throw of 141 feet.

By Harald Tollerup

BlueDevilHUB.com Staff–

Senior Sol Bitners trudged up to the sector. They stepped to the discus ring. Bitners began to sway, preparing the throw but as they released the disk they over-rotated. Bitners ended too far on the left side of the ring with their hips out of alignment. 

It was a monster throw but landed outside of the sector. Their coach, Matt Johnson, remembers thinking to himself, “That could have been a school record.”

Occasionally when Bitners throws, their throwing arm catches up to their hips, which causes them to lose power and accuracy. This is called over-rotation and is caused most of the time by throwing your left arm rather than pushing your right. 

The consequence of over rotation is sector fouls which nullify possible personal bests. Bitners has sector-fouled about 10 times during the season.

“I will get a good (release) angle, but right as it leaves my hand I will bend down to get more force on it,” they said.

The bad habit has not stopped Bitners from winning all 15 competitions they have entered. Johnson sees a bright future for them, but issues with over rotation has prevented them from reaching even greater heights.

“I’ve had a number of coaches point out ‘wow, Sol is really good’ and I’m like ‘yeah,’ but there is still a lot left in the tank,” Johnson said.

Bitners in fact set their personal best at the first meet of the season at a mark of 150 feet, 6 inches. Slowly, Bitners has been approaching the school women’s record which stands at 155 feet, 9 inches.

As of May 17, Bitners is ranked third in the state for the women’s discus event. 

While having won every meet, Bitners has not been exempt from struggle. At the Halden Invitational, Bitners threw 128 feet, 6 inches, only winning the competition by 2 feet and throwing 22 feet under their personal best. 

At Halden, a cold and long meet coupled with “just a bad day” held Bitners back.

In shot-put, Bitners holds the school record. Even though it is only their secondary event, Bitners and Johnson have worked tirelessly to improve. 

Their work in shot-put culminated this season when Bitners took first at the Sacramento League of Champions where they set a new personal best for shot-put at 40 feet, 7 1/4 inches. 

“They have an incredible work ethic,” Johnson said. “It’s more than just them being talented.”

The weight room is where much of Bitners’ time is spent. Both the physical and technical demands are what makes throwing difficult.

Still, with all their success, Bitners has yet to commit to a college in their sport.

“I’m still open to looking, trying to figure out what fits for me,” they said.

Right now Bitners has their eyes set on the University of Oregon, but wants to keep talking to other coaches to find the right place.

“If the coach doesn’t click with me I won’t be able to succeed there,” they said.

The motivation behind their endless quest for a coach that clicks is head throwing coach Johnson. The impact and connection they have built with Johnson has been instrumental in their success. 

His use of metaphors really helped Bitners master technique. Bitners recalls Johnson constantly saying that the rotation of the throw was “just like squashing a bug”. 

“A lot of coaching is done through metaphors,” Bitners said.

Academically, Bitners has found a love for chemistry. They took the class for the first time their junior year but didn’t make it into AP chemistry this year.

To substitute, Bitners has opted to take free college chemistry courses. “I’ve always wondered about the building blocks of everything,” Bitners said. “It’s really fun to get to know what we are made of, what muscles are made of and this is what I am walking on right now.”

When they enter college, Bitnersplans to focus on biochemistry. “I like how biology sets up the building blocks and how chemistry uses those building blocks,” they said. 

Most recently Bitners placed first at San Joaquin Masters. Looking towards the immediate future, Bitners has qualified for the women’s national high school competition in June. Having qualified in the first meet of the season, Bitners is looking to support their teammates through the same process.

“It’s really about getting the most of us (DHS throwers) up there as possible,” Bitners said.