In the last two weeks of the 2024 track season, senior Alec Krippel decided he would give track a shot. By the end of the two weeks, Krippel discovered he had a hidden talent: Discus throwing.
Discus throwing is where an athlete hurls a heavy disc (2kg) as far as they can. Athletes are not allowed to touch the top rim of the throwing circle or outside the throwing circle, but they can touch the edges of the inside.
“Once I got pretty good at it, I realized I should take it seriously,” Krippel said. “I found a coach outside of school that I would go to over in Cypress.”
He purchased his own disc so he could throw on his own time. And he started traveling to Cypress on the weekends and sometimes on weekdays too. When school started up again, the regimen didn’t stop.
“I would usually stay for a while after the school practices,” Krippel said. “And then I would also go back home after, eat dinner, and then sometimes I’d go back for a second practice.”
Krippel puts in at least 14 hours of practice a week. While he also does varsity cheer, there hasn’t been too much conflict between the two.
“Balancing cheer and track has been pretty easy, I’d say, because cheer season is essentially over by the time track starts. I think the only thing that I’ve had to compromise was a practice meet, which was fine because it was a practice meet, it wasn’t a serious big time meet or anything,”
His work ethic has not gone unnoticed by other members of the track team.
“They say hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard. I can confidently say that Alec is the embodiment of both talent and hard work,” senior Dakota Dement said.
Krippel and Dement both qualified for the 2025 5A State Championships. Krippel placed ninth with his best throw being 154 feet 5 inches. Dement placed 7th 53 feet 7.5 inches.
Dement also says that Krippel has served as a mentor to the other younger discus throwers.
“Alec is an exceptional leader at practice by recommending drills to the underclassmen and helping their throw,” Dement said. “He holds a strong posture and stays level headed, and it really gives the younger guys on the team a sense that everything is under control.”
Krippel has broken the school record multiple times. The first time was a year ago at the Region Meet with a throw of 152 feet, 11 inches. He broke it again recently with a throw of 180 feet, 11 inches.
“I’d been inches away from it for so long, and then I fell away from it,” Krippel said. “And then when I finally broke it (the first time), it was like, I don’t even know how to describe it. It was just an amazing feeling. And then when I broke it again most recently, it was the same kind of feeling, because I’d been practicing all summer.”
Track coach James Higham said Krippel has grown each year, especially considering Krippel threw only 120 feet as a sophomore. With a third place finish at Area in both the shot put and discus, Krippel is ready to compete at Area this weekend to punch his return ticket to State.
Krippel said, “I’m just going to want it more than everybody else.”
