BEWARE OF FLYING OBJECTS
One is among the top shot putters in the nation. One is among the top discus throwers. Both are from the WPIAL.
Emma Callahan likes to listen to R&B music before track and field meets, just to calm her nerves a little.
Liz Tapper prefers no music before meets, but does like to listen to pop artists at home such as Harry Styles and Taylor Swift.
But truth be told, what Callahan and Tapper are most into this spring is heavy metal. Not listening to it, but throwing it.
Only a few high school athletes in the country heave heavy metal objects like Callahan and Tapper.
Callahan is terrific at throwing that 8.8 pound metal ball, otherwise known as a shot put. While Tapper hurls that 2.2 pound metal discus. Look at the top shot putters and discus throwers in the country, according to Track & Field News, and they hail from such places as Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Maryland and Indiana. But what makes the story of Callahan and Tapper unusual is they are both from the same league. They are two of the premier athletes in the WPIAL in any sport, albeit in different classifications. And besides being among the best in the country this season, the two are among the best in their events in the history of the WPIAL.
Callahan is a senior at Shenango High School and her throw in the shot put of 50 feet, 7 inches earlier this spring is the third best in the country this year and second best in WPIAL history. Center’s Ally Laughlin has the No. 1 WPIAL mark, throwing 5010¾ in 2006.
Meanwhile, Tapper is a junior at Hempfield High and has the No. 4 discus throw in the country this year at 163-9. It’s also the second best in WPIAL history. Only legendary Colleen Rosensteel of Greensburg Central Catholic has a better mark, throwing 168-11 in 1984, which was a national high school record at the time. Rosensteel went on to be an All-American at the University of Florida and made the Olympics three times in judo.
“It is unique to have two
awesome throwers in the WPIAL at the same time,” said Dave Murray, Hempfield’s throwing coach. “I know whenever they are in the same meets, they cheer each other on.”
Callahan and Tapper will compete at the WPIAL championships May 18 at Slippery Rock University — Callahan in Class 2A and Tapper 3A. The PIAA championships are May 27-28 at Shippensburg University. Both Callahan and Tapper have designs on reaching those top marks in WPIAL history.
Callahan also throws the discus while Tapper competes in the shot put, too. But Tapper also is one of the top pole vaulters in the WPIAL. An excellent thrower and a pole vaulter is a combination rarely seen in track and field. It would be like Wiz Khalifa in concert with Kenny Chesney. But Tapper is such a good athlete that she excels at vastly different events.
Besides competing in throwing events and being among the best in the country this spring, Callahan and Tapper have more in common. They are both straightA students in the classroom with grade-point averages of 4.0 or higher. They are both future Division I athletes. Callahan already has signed with the Iowa while Tapper, who still has another year left at Hempfield, is getting interest from colleges all the way from the SEC to the PAC-12.
But what makes their story interesting is both never expected to excel in throwing metal objects. In fact, it wasn’t that long ago that they had to be coerced into trying the shot put and discus events.
“When I first started throwing, I actually thought it was a joke,” Tapper said. “I expected nothing out of it. To know I’ve come this far is amazing.”
Forget softball
Callahan was a talented softball player in her younger years. She thought she might have a future in the sport.
But Callahan is the daughter of former track and field athletes. Her parents, Matt and Barb Callahan, competed at Slippery Rock University. They knew their daughter was talented in softball, but they convinced her to give throwing a shot a try in junior high.
“I was a softball player and I wasn’t going to quit softball for something I had never done before,” Emma Callahan said. “They told me I could maybe just split the sports in the spring one year and just see what happens. I never played softball again after that.
“I had a promising start when I first started throwing and that’s what kind of lit the fire for me. You win one junior high meet and think you’re on top of the world, which is not the case at all. But I thought, ‘Oh, I’m kind of not bad at this.’”
Matt Callahan is Shenango’s throwing coach and trains his daughter year round. He watched his daughter place fifth in the shot put at the PIAA championships when she was a freshman.
“It was in ninth grade and I’m placing at states and the WPIALs and I starting thinking, ‘OK, let’s maybe get serious about this,’” Callahan said.
The 2020 season was canceled because of the COVID19 pandemic. Last year, Callahan won the WPIAL shot put title with a throw of 49-3½ and placed third in the discus. She was second in the shot at the PIAA championship and fifth in the discus.
A small story
Tapper competed in gymnastics from a young age until she tried the pole vault in sixth grade and really found her niche. She competed in the event exclusively through her eighth grade year on the junior high team. When she was in ninth grade, she was urged to try another event on the track team. She didn’t want to get into a running event because she thought that would make her tired for the pole vault.
Someone suggested throwing the discus and shot put. Huh. What a knee slapper. “I was, I think, 5 feet 5, 110 pounds in ninth grade,” Tapper said with a laugh. “No one thought I would be good at it whatsoever because I really didn’t have the build for it.”
But despite her stature, Tapper showed plenty of potential in the shot put right from the start. She started with the discus in her sophomore year. It was like she was a natural. But she also grew and is now 5-10.
“Over three years I gained about 50 pounds, too,” Tapper said.
Last year, Tapper finished second in the shot put and discus at the WPIAL Class 3A championships and third in the pole vault. She finished third in the shot and discus at the PIAA meet.
Hempfield is known for producing top-notch throwers, in both boys and girls. Five of the top 10 discus distances in WPIAL girls history are by Hempfield athletes. Tapper also is tied for fifth in WPIAL history in the shot put with a throw of 47-1½.
Murray has coached most of those outstanding Hempfield throwers. He has shot put and discus throwing areas at his home. He said Tapper is the most heavily-recruited girls thrower he has coached.
“I don’t think we were expecting all this when she first started,” Murray said. “But she’s an incredible athlete and she’s worked really hard in the weight room. But you could be strong and not a good thrower. If you’re a good thrower and then get stronger, that’s what I like to see.
“What she has is speed and really long arms. She’s fast. What I mean by that is you watch her in the discus, she spins really fast. You combine being super fast with the long arms.”
Reaching high
When it comes to the top discus throw in WPIAL history, Tapper wants to be Liz Topper. She also has designs on a PIAA title — and it’s the same with Callahan. Both are confident all of those goals can be reached.
“I’m hoping to put it all together one meet,” Tapper said.
Callahan said, “I’m just trying to stay focused. Sometimes you have to give up things because you might go to practice for 2½ hours, maybe lift and get home at 7:30 or 8. Then you do homework for AP classes until 10. It’s a challenge to stay focused at times because you miss things in your social life. But I would not change anything. I’m so grateful. I’ve learned to manage it all.”