Thomas Sumter's Carter hits school record on way to Hines Furniture Athlete of the Week

Thomas Sumter's Kason Carter was seemingly born to throw.

She's proved that on the softball field for a few years now, dazzling in the circle since she was a middle-schooler. This spring, she decided to add track and field to the mix and immediately put her throwing ability to good use.

Carter needed just one throw in her first meet to set a new school record in the javelin, clearing 127' to topple the record previously set by Anna Luzzi at the Speed Demon Showcase on Friday, Feb. 20, earning Hines Furniture Athlete of the Week honors in the process.

"It feels very good; they're very supportive," Carter said of the Thomas Sumter community. "They gave me the confidence I needed."

Thomas Sumter head track and field coach Rob Coursey has been itching to get Carter in the throwing events for a while. The sophomore battled injuries last year, so her focus remained on softball. He was thrilled to see his next great thrower step in and pick up the baton from his previous record-holder.

"I've been really cautious with her over the years. Last year, we tried to get her to throw the jav, and it didn't work out. She had some injuries that she was kinda working through. We worked with her a little bit so she understood the form, the grip, the steps," Coursey said. "It would've been great to have had Kason and Anna throwing at the same time, but once we started practicing, she was out of the football field throwing before baseball came out. Anna has been supportive. We had the meet Friday night, and at 6 a.m. the next morning, Anna was throwing at Carolina and was like, 'I see Kason broke my record.' Anna even touched base with her after the fact. Anna wasn't upset by it. She probably wishes she could've held the record a little bit longer, but everyone has always been supportive of everyone here. That's what I like about the students we have here; they're very supportive of each other."

Carter leaned heavily on her softball background while making the transition into track and field. While she needed a few technique changes to throw the long, cylindrical javelin, the basic structure helped her get out to a fast start.

"I pretty much just used softball techniques," Carter admitted. "Except to make a few arm adjustments and stayed on practice on that."

The sophomore was locked in from the second she stepped onto the field at Lugoff-Elgin. As soon as her first throw left her hand, she knew it was going to be good.

"I just knew I had a thing to do; I came out for one reason: to throw," she said. "Because it was my first meet, I didn't know how it was going to go, but I thought it went pretty well."

After setting a school record in her first meet, Carter immediately challenged herself with a new goal.

"140 feet," she said simply.

That was the exact response Coursey expected from his young thrower.

"She's very goal-oriented," Coursey said. "We talk about having three goals; it doesn't have to be track related. We talked afterwards and said, 'You got it; what's the next step?' And she immediately said 140. It's very lofty, but I think she can do it. It's always great to have a kid who is self-driven and getting better every single day."