With one shot left, Eastpointe’s Monroe delivers performance she’ll never forget

EASTPOINTE — It’s the type of moment that high school athletes dream about, but it’s also the moment that helps you uncover something in yourself that you didn’t know existed.

Whether it’s taking a buzzer-beating shot in a basketball game or being at the plate with the bases loaded in the last inning, it’s a moment for which few are prepared and have the ability to stay poised as it happens.

When Eastpointe High School junior Kalia Monroe stepped up for her third and final put in shot put at the Michigan High School Athletic Association Division 2 girls track and field state finals on June 1 at Hamilton High School, she knew she would have to hit a personal best in order to jump to first.

With a goal in mind and the pressure of a state title on her shoulders, Monroe said she felt a sense of relief the moment she let go of the shot.

“Instantly after it released off my fingers, I said, ‘I won,’” Monroe said. “It was a feeling, but it was like I should have won. I didn’t need to look at the shot, because I knew I threw that farther than the girl in first place. It hit the 45 (foot) mark, and I just started screaming.”

Monroe’s 45-6 performance catapulted her to first place with Marysville senior Janae Hudson still with one put left, but Hudson would fall just short with a 45-4, a personal record for her as well.

Officially the Division 2 state champion, Monroe reacted the way anyone who had put in the time and hours that Monroe did to reach her goal would.

“I just lost it,” Monroe said. “I ran to my family and friends and started bawling my eyes out. I just had so much emotion inside myself after throwing it that I completely cried and was happy that I just won states.”

Track and field is more than just a sport for Monroe — it’s a family tradition. Her grandparents were runners, her mother competed in shot put and discus, and her sister, Jordan Monroe, currently throws at the Milwaukee School of Engineering.

“She comes from an athletic family,” Eastpointe head coach Edwin McDonald said. “Her mother did shot put and discus, and her sister is in college right now doing shot put and discus. It’s in her blood.”

Kalia and Jordan, who just finished her freshman season at MSOE, both qualified for the MHSAA Division 1 state finals last year as track and field competitors for Clinton Township Chippewa Valley.

Kalia Monroe finished sixth in shot put, reaching a personal record of 39-3 1/4 to earn all-state honors in her first state finals meet.

Getting a glimpse of the state finals stage and the talent around her, Monroe said she was focused solely on winning the title in the offseason.

“It was my first year there, so I didn’t expect too much, but I did expect myself to place, which I did,” Monroe said. “I was thinking maybe next year I could win it, because there weren’t many girls above me at the time, but I knew if I fixed my form, did everything I needed to do, and actually worked for it, I would win the state title. Going into this year, I was going to win states. That’s all I thought about.”

Monroe didn’t put her best foot forward in the beginning of this year’s state meet, and she knew that, but the job for her was to figure out why.

Frustrated after a 39-foot toss, Monroe said she was continuously thinking about her mechanics and what she was doing wrong. Once she figured it out, it was time to put a plan in motion.

“When you hold the shot put, your throw needs to come off your fingers, and my throw wasn’t coming off my fingers. It was coming off my palm,” Monroe said. “I took the time after I threw my 39, and I was upset, and I immediately grabbed the shot put and went to an open area, and I just kept flicking it off my fingers. I was thinking this would make me win.”

The rest was history for the champion, who also earned all-state in discus with a seventh-place finish.

In her long list of accolades this season, Monroe was league (Macomb Area Conference Bronze), Macomb County, and regional champion in both discus and shot put while setting new school records in shot put (45-6), discus (131-3), and the 100-meter (14.21).

With her senior season coming up, McDonald said Monroe already has a milestone she’s hoping to reach.

“Each year, she increased her throws by 5 feet every time,” McDonald said. “Her goal is to throw in 50 feet now.”