Coaching/Club Announcement:

I'll cut straight to the chase. I want to let you all know that I won’t be coaching again this upcoming season, at least not anywhere close to what I’ve been doing the last 16 years on the MITS/AAU/USATF circuit. After over 25 years of coaching the throws at various levels, it’s become a part of my identity so this hasn’t been an easy decision.  

Three years ago when my youngest Val graduated from high school and moved on to Michigan State, several people asked me at the time if I was going to continue to coach. My response then was that I would take it year by year and reevaluate. It’s been a great extra three years but earlier this year I realized that I was ready to move on. 

I waited to say anything until after the JO because I didn’t want my being done coaching to be a distraction. Hopefully this will still give everyone plenty of time to figure out what they are going to do next year as far as coaching goes. I will certainly try to help anyone looking for alternative coaching support.

The Magsig-Pallett Throwing Club started in 2008 as a family thing (thus the name) with just me and my kids throwing (and my wife there to support us every step of the way). It really grew over the years into a lot more than I expected. We’ve had a successful run the past 16 years with multiple national champions, numerous medal stand finishes and several school records (even a few state of Michigan records). Several of our club throwers have gone on to compete on the collegiate level and I’m happy to see that a few of them have started coaching themselves.

I very much appreciate the trust you have put in me to help guide your athletes.  I’m just finding as I get older than I don’t have the physical and emotional energy necessary to continue to coach at the level that I expect from myself (and that the kids deserve).

While I will miss working with all of these great young kids and getting to know their families, it’s time for me move on. I’m looking forward to just being a parent next year and watching Val’s final season competing for the Spartans. I haven’t found that beachfront house in the Caribbean yet so I’ll be around. While I won’t be actively coaching, I’m certainly willing to provide some input here and there if you want to send me videos or just to meet up for a short session impromptu session.

I wish you all the best in the future.

• Coach Toby

2024 AAU National Junior Olympics – Greensboro, NC – 27Jul-3Aug’24:

This was my 6th big meet in Greensboro (2 New Balance HS Nationals, 1 USATF National JO and now 3 AAU National JOs). Greensboro and the North Carolina State A&T track & field facility definitely feels like a 2nd home track. It’s nice knowing ahead of time where to park, where to practice and even where to eat! I’m a thrower. You know I hit Sticks and Stones for a good wood fired pizza!

We had 8 of our throwers take part in this year’s AAU National JO. Unlike previous years, this was a week of highs and lows. There were even a couple of “could have been” moments like 1st year thrower Gabriel foot fouling an absolute bomb in discus that would have won the 12yr boys discus. While I will revisit the lows (and think about what I should have done differently to better prepare everyone), I’ll stick to the highlights here.

·         Zoe placing 2nd in 13 yr old pentathlon (improving one place from last year)

·         Maggie hitting a PR in javelin in the pouring rain on Monday to place 3rd (improving one spot from 2023)

·         All 4 of our shot putters on Wednesday medaling. Maggie defending her silver from last year. Zoe improving one spot to 6th. Gabriel placing 4th with a standing throw (look out when he figures out rotation). Teegan moving up to 17-18yr and equaling his 7th place finish from last year.

·         The indelible memory for me will be Maggie’s clutch 6th round PR toss of 116’ 11” to reclaim the AAU 13yr old Discus National Championship. She had been leading since round 2, but Silease James put her to the test with a 6th round toss of 115’ 4” to take the lead. Maggie stepped right in afterwards and hit her lifetime best throw to reclaim 1st. I couldn’t have been prouder of her ability to execute under pressure. After a week of ups and downs, it was a great “walk-off moment".

Day 1-2 (Multi-Events):

Zoe Ghanbari     – 2823pts (592pts from shot)  – PR – AAU 13yr Pentathlon Silver Medalist!!

                         – 35’ 11.5” – shot put (3rd)

Teegan Simmons – 5488pts (2094pts from throws) – 10th place 17-18yr Decathlon

                          – 159’ 0” – javelin (1st) - SR

                          – 148’ 5” – discus (2nd)

                          – 47’ 5” – shot (1st) 

Aria Simmons    – 419pts (158pts from shot) – 25th place 9yr Triathlon

                        – 13’ 9.5” – shot (19th)

Days 3-8: (Open Events)

Maggie Kandt – 91’ 1” – 600g javelin (3rd) – PR – AAU 13yr Javelin Bronze Medalist!!

                    – 42’ 3.25” – 6lb shot (2nd) – SR – AAU 13yr Shot Put Silver Medalist!!

                    – 116’ 11” – 1kg discus (1st) – PR – AAU 13yr Discus National Champ!!

Gabriel Dunn – 96’ 9” – 15th place 12yr 400g turbo javelin

                    – 39’ 4” – 4th place 12yr shot

                    – dns – 12yr discus

Zoe Ghanbari – 38’ 2.75” – 6th place 13yr shot

Teegan Simmons – 51’ 8.5” – 7th place 17-18yr shot

                          – 140’ 5” – 24th place 17-18yr discus

                          – 143’ 9” – 20th place 17-18yr javelin

Torran Simmons – 131’ 4” – 16th place 15-16yr javelin

                         – 35’ 8.75” – 45th place 15-16yr shot

                         – 121’ 2” – 15th place 15-16yr discus

Joe Cain              – 41’ 11.25” – 18th place 15-16yr shot – SR (rotating)

                          – dns – 15-16yr discus

Emma Antonczak – 100’ 8” – 44th place 17-18yr discus

                          – 30’ 7.75” – 51st place 17-18yr shot

                          – 79’ 6” – 33rd place 17-18yr javelin

Aria Simmons  – 15’ 1.25” – 6lb shot put (38th place 9yr)

AAU Live Results:

https://flashresults.com/2024_Meets/Outdoor/07-27_AAU/index.htm

Milesplit Interview with Zoe Ghanbari after her silver medal in 13yr old Pentathlon:

I know we have some pretty awesome kids that throw with our club, but I’m continually impressed with how well they handle these interviews. Maggie was also interviewed but I’ve yet to see it posted.

https://www.milesplit.com/videos/719999/zhoe-ghanbari-wants-to-be-a-future-olympian

Pictures with the Medalists:

2024 Michigan Senior Olympics – Oakland University – 18Aug’24:

I was the only one from the club at this year’s MSO as Jennifer was in Sweden repping the USA at the World Masters Athletics Championships! More on that in a future post hopefully.

Weather-wise, the day called for intermittent rain. We mostly missed it during the morning (nothing during hammer and only a little light rain during shot). Unfortunately, we had a bunch of rain showers in the afternoon during discus. It was heavy enough at times to question just leaving the circles full of water instead of trying to constantly broom it out. Not great conditions for discus but I was happy with how I managed the wet conditions for the most part.

We had a lot more people than normal including throwers from Wisconsin, Ohio, and Pennsylvania in my age group due to it being one of the final qualifying events for the 2025 National Senior Olympics. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a very good day in the circles. I just wasn't well prepared and physically firing on Sunday. As a result of not throwing well and better competition than normal, I was lucky to qualify for next year’s National meet in all 3 events (top 4) and barely came home with any hardware (silver in hammer, bronze in shot). Just didn't have it going today.

While I was disappointed in this performance, the outdoor season wasn’t a total bust. I set a new PR in hammer, was close to my age group PR in discus and exceeded the US Masters All-American Standard for shot put, discus and hammer. (the latter two events only because they reduced the standards a few years ago). That said, I closed the gap on the original hammer standard of 36.00m (0.31m to go). Next year I’ll shoot again for the original standard in all 3! Until then, it’s time to put the toys away and get back to the weight room for me. 😊

Hammer – 107’ 10” (2nd, 55-59yr) 

Shot Put – 36’ 6” (3rd, 55-59yr)

Discus    – 117’ 11” (4th, 55-59yr)

Complete results will eventually post at https://www.michiganseniorolympics.org/summer-games-results. Live results (running events only so far) can be found at https://www.milesplit.live/meets/631619.