Junior thrower Kolcie Bates was unsure if she would be able to continue her throwing career with a collegiate track and field program.
As an underclassman at Weiser High School, Bates initially received little attention due to the small size of her hometown.
“I wasn’t sure that I was going to be able to throw in college,” Bates said. “Being from a small town, there’s not much opportunity.”
But after several strong showings during her senior year, Bates garnered some regional recognition.
Boise State recruited her, as well as Brigham Young and a multitude of community colleges after she won back-to-back Idaho State Championships in discus throwing.
However, Bates only wanted to attend one school – the University of Idaho.
“They hadn’t recruited me, so I contacted the coach and made her know my name,” Bates said. “I was pretty pushy, but it got me here. Sometimes being pushy pays off.”
Bates was immediately added to the track and field roster as a freshman.
The thrower was a member of the 2014 Outdoor Western Athletic Conference Championship team. In addition, Bates won the discus throw at the Cougar Invitational in 2014 with a mark of 45.1 meters.
She set a personal record at the same meet in the javelin throw with 30.1 meters.
“It’s nice to be in college with throwers who want to be competitive and want to excel,” Bates said in regards to the transition from high school to college. “In high school, throwing is stereotypically the ‘lazy kid’ sport.”
During the 2015 outdoor season, Bates won the discus event in three separate meets. She set personal records in the discus with a throw of 46.72 meters and in the hammer throw with 45.53 meters at the Border Clash.
In indoor competition, she set yet another personal record in the weight throw with a distance of 13.54 meters and earned 12th place at the Idaho Vandal Indoor Invitational.
Tim Cawley, the director of Vandal track and field program, said he believes Bates is coming into her own as a player.
“She’s very talented, she works hard,” Cawley said. “To see all that coming together and the confidence meet up with that is exciting.”
The Idaho coach has been working with Bates for the last year and a half.
“She’s at that spot where she’s starting to become an upperclassman,” Cawley said. “Her role is transitioning into being a leader. That confidence is coming around.”
Bates describes the Idaho track and field team as a family, despite the roster’s large size.
“Sometimes you just naturally get on each other’s nerves,” Bates said. “But I love it. I know everyone has my back and it’s nice to have that support system.”
This season, Bates added shot put to her list of events.
“I took about two years off and we just picked it back up this season,” Bates said. “I PR nearly every week. It’s nice when you take that big break because you can only go up from there.”
Bates said her success in the event has allowed her to enjoy shot put, a throw she disliked as a competitor in high school.
“It all just finally clicked,” Bates said. “You can only better yourself, so constantly bettering your marks is pretty cool. I get pretty competitive”
Last weekend, the junior finished first in the shot put with a mark of 12.61 meters at the Husky Invite.
During the 2016 outdoor track and field season, Bates will throw discus, shot put and hammer.
“I’m hoping to excel in all of them,” she said. “It’ll be nice to continue shot (put).”
Bates said her goal is to continue to improve on her distance with each event.
“I’m hopefully going to finish off the indoor season at the Big Sky Championship next weekend with another PR,” she said.
“Number one is the goal, but I definitely want to get another big PR.”
Tess Fox can be reached at [email protected]Â or on Twitter @tesstakesphotos
(Photo courtesy of Spencer Farrin)