West Ashley High School junior track thrower Brianne Daniel has literally thrown the distance this year. Though she is fairly new to track, her incredible strength in discus is impressive. She recently threw 99’11”, beating her personal record (PR) and finished in first place at the 43rd Annual Charleston County School District Track & Field Championship. She was named the Charleston County Discus Champion, which means she is currently ranked first among all of Charleston County’s discus throwers.
Throws Coach Austin Miller was very proud of Daniel’s performance, which is why he nominated her to be this week’s Athlete of the Week. “She is always looking to get better in everything she does, and that translates into the ring,” says Miller. Assistant Throws Coach Catheryne Porter says, “I’m so proud of Brianne’s progress this year in throwing the discus. She has learned so much about this event that at each meet she continues to improve her PR.”
Because Daniel is the champion of Charleston County, she will move on to the Tri-County Meet where she will compete against the best of Dorchester and Berkley Counties. Daniel recently came in third place at the Cane Bay Invitational, proving she can hold her own with some of the competition from Dorchester County. If she throws as well at Regionals, Daniel will move on to the South Carolina State Track Meet at Spring Valley High School in Columbia, SC on May 13 and 14.
Discus is not the only thing Daniel does well; her abilities in the classroom are well above many of her fellow juniors. “I could not ask for a better athlete, student, and citizen,” says Miller. She is currently a member of the National Honor Society and does community service at Seacoast Church. She has already taken numerous Honors and Advanced Placement (AP) courses, and plans to take all AP courses next year.
Daniel also plays soccer. She played for West Ashley her freshman year, before she joined the track team, but now she only plays club in the fall. Even though Daniel is naturally talented on and off the field, she still faces challenges. She has to manage her time between sports and school to ensure she maintains high grades. On the field, Daniel says her biggest problem is overthinking her throws. “[Discus] is more about technique, so I have to focus, but if I think about it too much, it makes me mess up,” she says.
“Even her mistakes this year line her up for a great performance,” says Porter. Daniel claims that her coaches have been instrumental in her success. “Coach Porter is really hard, but she helps us get better,” says Daniel. “I’m trying to break her record.”
Porter currently holds the WAHS girls’ discus record at 123’8”. “I always tease Brianne that I am here to coach someone into breaking my West Ashley record, and I think she is the perfect candidate for the job,” says Porter. “She’ll have it by next year if she wants it.”
Daniel plans to attend Clemson University to major in biochemical engineering after she graduates. She says she’s already taken a lot of math and science classes, and she really enjoyed them. When asked if she plans on throwing discus in college, Daniel said, “I hadn’t really thought about it before, but Coach Porter said I had the ability to play in college, so it’s made me consider it more.”

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