Thrower earns multiple awards throughout career

Track and field athletes from small towns sometimes have to think outside the box when it comes to learning and training for their sport. Southeast Missouri State University senior Shon Kyle is one of those athletes.

Kyle attended Windsor High School in Imperial, Missouri. The school is small compared to other schools closer to St. Louis and has the disadvantage of smaller budgets and ultimately smaller programs. These factors make for less specialized coaching staffs, smaller facilities and athlete exposure can be hard to get.

Kyle had a strong desire to follow in his father's footsteps as a track and field athlete. His father, Pat Kyle, was a California state champion in shot put during the 1980's and wanted Shon to compete as well. The choice was easy for him.

"I said to myself, I want to be like that," Kyle said, referring to his father.

Kyle had a track and field coach at school but received additional coaching at home after school by his father.

"My dad kind of coached me at home and he attended all the meets," Kyle said.

To fine tune his skills, Kyle credits watching YouTube and other videos of the best track and field athletes in action. Kyle would play the videos of the athletes in slow motion so he could closely study their form and technique.

Kyle said videos of six-time NCAA champion Ryan Whiting, Olympic silver medalist Christian Cantwell and Olympic bronze medalist Reese Hoffa helped him improve his technique.

"I mostly watched Olympic meets and watched every thrower," Kyle said.

In high school, Kyle participated in the shot put and discus, and in his sophomore year he set school records in both. His shot put distance of 57 feet, 1 inch and discus throw of 172-7 still stand.

Kyle was a five-time medalist and earned all-state honors at Windsor.

Windsor track coach Stephony Dueker had nothing but praise for Kyle.

"He is an incredible athlete with great strength and ability," Dueker said. "Anyone who can qualify for seven out of eight state championships while in high school is pretty amazing."

After high school, Kyle enrolled at Rend Lake Community College where he was a nine-time NJCAA All-American and two-time letter-winner. He also began competing in the weight throw and hammer throw.

With the heavier weights, Kyle's best distances were 54-4 in the shot put, 169-4 in the discus, 170-0 in the hammer throw and 55-8 in the weight throw. Kyle admits he had some difficulty when he began the hammer throw and weight throw events because he had not thrown them in high school.

Kyle then transferred to Southeast in spring 2014 on a full athletic scholarship.

During the 2014 Southeast indoor track season, Kyle threw a season-long 16.33 meter toss in the shot put at the OVC Indoor Championships, placing second in the event. He finished third in the weight throw at the OVC Championships with a heave of 17.16 meters.

During the 2014 outdoor season, he posted a season-best 17.05 meter toss in the shot put, which earned him the gold medal at the OVC Championships.

Kyle also threw a season-best 54.03 meter discus toss at the OVC Championships and won the event. His hammer throw attempt at the OVC Championships was also a season-high at 56.46 but he was the runner-up in the event.

Kyle was recently named OVC Co-Male Field Athlete of the Week for the week of March 25 along with Austin Landis of Belmont. He also recently won the shot put event at the Vanderbilt Black and Gold Invite on 27-28 March.

At the Joey Haines Invitational on Saturday, Kyle placed first in the discuss, second in the shot put and third place in the hammer throw.

Kyle's mother, Debra, and various family members were on hand at the Joey Haines Invitational to cheer him on.

"They get their athletic ability from their dad," Debra Kyle said.

Shon's sister Michelle also competes in track and field at Lindenwood University.

"I'm nursing a shoulder injury now, but when I'm healthy I'll compete in the hammer throw," Michelle Kyle said.

Kyle is currently completing his degree in recreation management and is scheduled to graduate in December.