AUSTIN – Plainview senior Ava Rushing didn’t just give a nod to throwing a personal best in the shot put Friday, she clapped, she ran around, she screamed and she smiled.
Rushing’s throw of 46 feet, nearly two feet better than her previous PR, came up inches short of a gold medal at the 2026 UIL Class 5A state track and field meet at Mike A. Myers Stadium, but still netted her a silver medal.
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Rushing thought her outstanding effort of 46 feet on the fifth of her six throws was good enough to surpass the 46-3 ¼ effort from Red Oak’s Briana Davis and that’s why the outgoing and animated Tarleton State signee was so enthused to the delight of her fans clapping and screaming in the nearby stands.
“I thought I had won it,” said a smiling Rushing.
Rushing’s final shot put competition before heading to throw for Tarleton State saw her focused, yet smiling and encouraging her opponents.
“I came in just trusting God, trusting the process and trusting my work, something I’ve tried to do all year,” Rushing said of her strategy. “It was exciting. It was also a little sad coming out knowing it was my last meet.
But going out and PRing by two feet was awesome. I would have like to win but coming out here and making sure I had fun was all that matters. Honestly, district, area and regionals are way more nerve wracking than to me because if you have a bad day, you aren’t moving on. So at state you might as well go all out.”
Rushing’s silver medal gave her a second consecutive silver medal in the shot put and she said, “Silver looks better on me any way.”
Plainview throwing coach Wykeisha Thompson was Rushing’s sounding board throughout the event.
“I only came in this year and we have talked a lot but Ava had already been (at Plainview) three years so she did all of this on her own,” said Thompson. “I’ve only touched on and tweaked some little things. For her to come out her senior year like this, I’m happy for her and impressed with her.”
Rushing said: “I have been kind of on my own these last three years and (Thompson) came and pushed me and had me work on little things that can lead to big things.”
Rushing entered state competition having to deal with an ankle injury that had slowed her progress. But she was on her game in the shot put opening with a 44 feet, 6-inch effort on her first of six attempts. That throw put Rushing in first place until Davis of Red Oak grabbed the lead going 45-2 on her fourth throw.
Davis added to her lead with a 46-3 ¼ on her fifth throw. That fifth throw by Rushing was the one she thought had brought home gold. And for good reason. Rushing reached 46 feet on her throw, the longest of her stellar career at Plainview.
Rushing later completed in the Class 5A discus just missing out on the medal stand with a fourth place effort of 152-1, 16 inches from making the medal stand in third place.
“I have been waiting for this for a long time,” Rushing said of her chance to compete at state for a second time. “Coach (Thompson) told me to dream gold last night so that’s what I dreamed. I enjoyed this so much.”