Staying busy: Tigers grad liked competing in 3 sports

June 6, 2017

Brittany Ross kept busy with athletics at Crothersville High School this spring, and she liked it that way.

Ross pitched for the softball team and threw discus for the track team.

She also played volleyball in the fall.

The recent graduate said that on days she didn’t have a softball game or a track meet, she practiced both.

In track, Ross competed in the throwing events.

“Discus is my favorite event,” Ross said. “I’m not very good at shot put. Discus is where I spent my time, and it surely has paid off. At Borden, in the conference I had a personal record three different times. My first throw at conference was 79-feet, 11-inches.

“It was really nice Mr. (Ryan) Canada was there coaching me. He told me what to do differently to make my throws better.”

She was Southern Athletic Conference discus champion this spring with a winning throw of 85-11.

Ross, who began throwing the discus in sixth grade, was Mid-Southern Middle School Conference champion at Brownstown her eighth-grade season.

“I do what they call the ‘South African.’ I do the South African (glide) starting inside the ring,” Ross said. “You’re facing forward in the ring, but you still have the steps to do a full motion in the circle to release the discus. That is the way I felt more comfortable.

“Your main point is you want to keep the left arm up. If you drop it, then your throw is either going to go straight down or it’s just going to go straight with your body. Your goal is to get it higher.”

For Ross, throwing transcended past sport.

“Being in track gave me that extra boost of confidence,” Ross said. “Being conference champion this year shows hard work does pay off, and if you keep trying you’ll get what you want.”

On the diamond, this spring was her first full season pitching.

“I’ve only had a couple lessons here and there,” Ross said. “We had a newer team this year and no one else had any experience, or even knew the motion or steps that I had been through. I had a handful of pitching practices and I was the one that said I would step up and pitch.”

She said she always tried to throw the first pitch for a strike.

“It’s very important because if I don’t get that first pitch in there then who knows what I’m going to throw next,” Ross said. “My goal was to throw a strike every time. Sometimes I would throw a rise ball, sometimes I would throw a slower pitch.”

Ross batted fourth for the first half of the season before moving to fifth.

“There was still a chance for people to get on base and for me to hit them in,” Ross said. “Inside pitches weren’t always my favorite, but sometimes I could get a hold of one. If it wasn’t what I wanted I had the option to foul it off and try again.”

Ross attended Trinity Lutheran her freshman and sophomores before transferring to Crothersville at the beginning of her junior year.

On the volleyball court, Ross was the serving specialist.

“My first job was to be a team supporter,” Ross said. “Second was to be a serving specialist any time that anybody was having a hard time getting the ball over the net or just wasn’t having a good game. She would put me in and have me serve for them, just trying to get us back on a roll for a smooth game.

“I really enjoyed the team bonding. It was just really good, all the girls were great. We made a lot of good memories.”

On the schedule, Ross enjoyed the tournament matches.

“I enjoyed both (weekday and weekend matches), but the tourney aspect of it was really good because from playing club ball over the years, during the winter, it kind of reminded you of that aspect,” Ross said. “There’s nothing like spending the day with your team, and there is nothing else you can ask for besides that.”

Ross said she enjoyed her teammates in all sports.

“I’ve enjoyed, not only competing with my teammates, but by coaches have been great,” she said. “Coming here to Crothersville, they didn’t necessarily have to give me the options and opportunities that they did, but they were willing to work with me.

“In track and softball they’ve given me a world of opportunity, willing to spend extra time with me when I needed to fix my issues, like my throws weren’t coming out high enough, or my pitches weren’t where they were supposed to be. We fixed that, and we fixed my batting.”

Ross said she is looking forward to attend St. Francis in Fort Wayne. She said she will either throw the discus or the hammer in college.

[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”Ross file” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]

Name: Brittany Ross

School: Crothersville High School

Parents: Scott and Memorie Ross

Siblings: Anika, Christopher

Sports: softball 4 years, track 4 years, volleyball 3 years

Athletic highlights: 2017 SAC conference champion in discus

Organizations: Student council, FFA, 4H, S.A.D.D., Sunshine Society, academic team, Junior Leaders

Plans after high school: Attend University of Saint Francis on track scholarship

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