Buckley gains confidence as a junior

When IU junior Kyla Buckley launched a shot put throw of 17.28-meters (56-feet-8.5-inches) to win the Texas Relays on March 29, she gained more than just a commemorative watch.

IU Coach Ron Helmer said Buckley’s confidence has been growing the past few months and it has led to improvement in her performance.

“She’s still not as confident as I wish she was, but the success that she’s had is building her confidence,” Helmer said. “That’s a big part of what she’s working on right now.”

But Helmer said Buckley’s confidence level started off low.

Going all the way back to high school, Buckley has experienced her fair share of runner-up finishes on big stages.

She wound up second in three consecutive IHSAA State meets in the shot put.

Then, when it came time to make her college decision, IU wound up second on Buckley’s list. She would be a Miami Hurricane.

In her freshman year at Miami, she once again took second, this time in the 2011 ACC Championship meet.

It wouldn’t be long until she transferred back home to become a Hoosier.

“At Miami I was throwing good, but not the best I could,” Buckley said. “I came to Indiana where I could trust my coach and I felt he could get the best out of me.”

IU Throws Coach Jermaine Jones has built a dynasty of women’s shot put.

He’s coached four different women to the top of the Big Ten Championship podium in four consecutive years, a feat Helmer said has never been done before. He’s worked closely with Buckley ever since she arrived at IU.

“I spent the first full year not so much coaching her, but more of breaking her bad habits,” Jones said.

“She’s just now starting to get it. It helps that she’s gotten significantly stronger, but technically, she’s a much better athlete.”

That combination of technique and brute strength helped Buckley become the fourth athlete Jones coached to a Big Ten shot put title this February. Her throw of 16.90-meters (55-feet-5.5-inches) won her the big meet title she’s pursued since high school.

“It felt really, really, really good,” Buckley said. “That was an expectation and a goal that I had for myself and fulfilling that meant I could move on to my next goal of scoring at NCAAs.”

But the Big Ten Indoor title was just the start of a streak of great performances by Buckley.

Her next meet was the Texas Relays competition where she threw her 17.28-meter bomb. That throw got the whole field going, as seven of the nine competitors also threw their best mark of the competition in their throws immediately after Buckley’s.

Buckley’s performance there earned her Big Ten Field Athlete of the Week honors.

The next weekend was the Pepsi Florida Relays, another big stage for the women’s shot put. Buckley won yet again, this time against a field containing two former Olympians, Chia Ying-Lin and Mariam Kevkhishvili.

Since Helmer said her confidence plays a huge part in each victory, and each victory leads to an increase in confidence, there’s no telling how much farther Buckley could throw, according to Jones.

Jones and Helmer both said the only certain thing is that there will be greater distances.

“She can throw farther,” Helmer said. “She’s had practice throws that go quite a bit farther than her personal record right now.”

Jones said he’s excited to see her development continue.

“I don’t want to put a ceiling on what she’s capable of,” Jones said. “As long as we keep getting better technically, the distances will keep coming.”