Coaching added feet for Bo Taylor

Chris Yemma

Bo Taylor will be the first to tell you that coaching does indeed

make a significant difference.

He will also say that there is more finesse, technique and skill

involved in throwing a disc resembling a Frisbee than what initially

meets the eye.

Taylor, a junior, spent his first two years on the Newport Harbor

High track and field team relying on raw talent and brute strength.

But this year, a new coaching addition has helped him add feet to his

throws by improving on style.

Tony Ciarelli, the Sailor football team’s defensive coordinator,

also a world-class weightlifter and renown shot put and discus coach,

stepped in this season to guide the Newport throwing squad -- the

strongest aspect of the Sailors’ track and field team, more than just

physically speaking.

Under Ciarelli’s direction this season, Taylor, Newport’s top

throwing prospect, has learned the right technique to throwing the

shot and disc. The culmination of the new coaching has been apparent

in the CIF Southern Section postseason.

Taylor qualified first in the discus at the Division II

preliminaries May 14 with a lifetime-best 179 feet, 4 inches and

second in the shot with another lifetime best -- 56-5 1/4 .

He went on to top his shot put best at the CIF Masters Meet

Friday, throwing 59-5 1/2 to finish third and qualify for the state

championships Friday and Saturday in Sacramento.

“He’s definitely gotten better,” Newport Coach Nowell Kay said.

“It’s not unexpected because he did well last year, but just having

Ciarelli there to work with him helped a lot with his development.”

Ciarelli has brought in Olympic-class throwers such as four-time

Canadian national champion Jason Tunks, among others, to help Taylor,

along with other Newport throwers Trevor Theriot, Kurt Kalanz and

Kevin Williams, perfect their techniques.

“I’ve got a circle that’s a little bigger than most high school

coaches,” said Ciarelli, who also holds a clinic in the area that

attracts throwers from all over the state.

Ciarelli said he considers this as Taylor’s first year, despite

competing in the events his freshman and sophomore years.

“That’s the thing, there’s a lot of kids around the state that

could be great throwers, but it’s the proper technique that matters,”

he said.

The Newport throwing coach has the team on a new regiment,

consisting of weightlifting and agility drills early in the year and

more throwing as the season progresses.

The change is quite different from what Taylor was used to, having

initially gotten involved in the sport after a strenuous football and

basketball season his freshman year.

“I was trying to find a sport that I didn’t have to work as hard,”

said Taylor, who is now just a few feet short of breaking the 1981

Newport school record of 185-11 in the discus. “I guess I was just

tired of the other two sports, but this year we’ve been working as

hard as anyone at the school.”

Being a junior, Taylor has goals next season of climbing the ranks

all the way to state champion. The current state leader is Arroyo

Grande senior Danny Rohr, tossing 202 flat at the Arcadia

invitational earlier this season.

But next season, Rohr will be gone, and Taylor will have had two

years grooming under his belt.

“I think I have a good chance of winning state in both,” he said.