黑料福利社

Shortly after this story ran in early May of 2003, Ellensburg鈥檚 Amanda Faire threw the shot 45-6陆 for a Valley record that still stands. She was Class 3A state shot champion, second in the discus and helped the Bulldogs to a second-place team trophy.

Faire, who went on to Eastern Washington, was the inaugural female athlete of the year at the 黑料福利社 Sports Awards.

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You鈥檇 never know it to look at her. Amanda Faire gets that line a lot and it doesn鈥檛 bother her one bit. Makes her smile, in fact. When the slender Ellensburg senior shows up at a track and field meet, Faire looks like she has the means to jump in a set of starting blocks or grab a baton and get ready for a relay.

She looks, well, fast. And that, in fact, is what she used to do as recently as last season.

But Faire has given up her track events this season and turned her attention exclusively to the shot put and what a commotion she is creating. At 43 feet, 11 inches, Faire is the overall state leader in the shot and unbeaten for the season.

Two weeks ago at the biggest prep meet in the Northwest, the Pasco Invitational, Faire would step into the ring and you could easily read the expressions throughout the crowd.

That鈥檚 Faire? That鈥檚 the state leader?

Yep, that鈥檚 her. All 5-foot-8, 143 pounds of her.

Cradling the 4-kilo metal ball under her chin, Faire would put her back to the throwing sector and slowly lean down, bending at the waist and knees, and pause. Then, in an instant, the mystery of physics would be solved for the perplexed gathering at Edgar Brown Stadium.

Combining a spasm of speed, strength and balance in a flash across the ring, Faire would release the ball as though it were hollow, sending it on a far higher arc than the rest of the state鈥檚 best throwers.

Higher, and farther.

Even the head official would smile with an tinge of disbelief as Faire would exit the ring.

鈥淚鈥檓 always the smallest one in the ring, but I鈥檝e never felt like that should limit me. I鈥檓 not as tall or have the size people expect, but you don鈥檛 have to be a certain type to be good,鈥� she says. 鈥淪ometimes girls say some nice things, like how I inspire them, and that鈥檚 cool. If you try hard and work hard, you can be good at anything.鈥�

It鈥檚 not uncommon for athletes of a slighter build to excel in the other throws, the discus and javelin, where runway speed and spinning inertia are every bit as important as brute strength. But in the shot, squeezed into the tight confines of the ring, muscle matters.

Ellensburg coach Rob Moffat, formerly a national-caliber prep javelin thrower at Cle Elum, relishes explaining how Faire does it.

鈥淲ith her size, I鈥檝e seen kids go up to Amanda and say, 鈥淵ou鈥檙e my hero,鈥� and she just smiles and says thanks,鈥� Moffat says. 鈥淏ut watch her in the ring and you鈥檒l see it 鈥� she鈥檚 so aggressive and explosive. She鈥檚 a flat-out fireball.鈥�

And make no mistake, there鈥檚 muscle.

Faire takes a strength and conditioning class taught by football coach Randy Affholter throughout the school year, a class that includes 30 boys and five girls. She has bench pressed 170 pounds, nearly 30 pounds over her weight.

鈥淚 love that class because it gives me confidence and it gets me in great shape,鈥� says Faire, who鈥檚 a varsity starter in volleyball and basketball. 鈥淚 do a lot of sports and I want to be athletic and strong for all of them. I like being able to hold my own against bigger girls.鈥�

That strength has not only carried over but increased from season to season since last fall, which enabled Faire to go from the state basketball tournament in March to state leader in the shot less than two weeks later. In fact, her first meet was 41-1戮, less than three inches off her best all of last year.

鈥淟ast summer was mostly spent on basketball and volleyball, so I hadn鈥檛 even picked up a shot for a year,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut I got into it pretty quick. I was real happy to get out over 43 feet early in the season.鈥�

Faire has done that three times 鈥� 43-11 at the Ray Cross Invitational in Ephrata, 43-8 on Thursday and 43-0陆 at Pasco 鈥� and in both invitationals she beat Kiona-Benton鈥檚 McKenzie Burgess, last year鈥檚 state leader.

鈥淚 love those big meets. With all that energy it鈥檚 easy to get pumped up,鈥� she says. 鈥淭he best thing about Pasco was the competition, and how it makes you challenge yourself. To throw far when you have to, that鈥檚 the best feeling.鈥�