The Ring: A Shared Experience for the Borrman Family

She knew it to be true, but it really didn't hit Kajsa Borrman until she walked into the hammer facility at Hayward Field on Wednesday.

She's going to have a rather special kinship with her parents.

"It hit me at practice. I mean, it's cool to think about because it's so rare to have it happen," the Colorado State sophomore said. "That's something I can share with them forever."

Back in 1996, at the old Hayward Field, before the current track mecca was built to elevate Eugene to Track Town USA, her parents both competed at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in the hammer throw. Mattias, now an assistant coach on staff, placed 10^th with a throw of 214-6, additionally placing ninth in the discus at 186-4.25. Her mother, Shelly, placed 17^th at 167-0.75, adding a fifth-place showing in the discus at 180-2.25.

Now, it's Kajsa's turn when she steps into the ring Thursday at 2:30 p.m. (MT).

"I don't know what the numbers are, but it's not one in a million. It's probably never happened before that two parents and their kid go to the same venue for the same event, 29 years apart," Mattias said. "It's pretty cool. It's just super unique, and it's a thing to be thankful for, for sure."

The youngster went through a practice session at the hammer space, just outside of the main arena, where teammates Mya Lesnar (shot put) and Klaire Kovatch (discus) went through their paces.

Borrman headed back to the team hotel a bit lighter – one of her hammers went into the net and got stuck halfway up, with the facilities folks telling her they would get it down later and return it to her. All the while, Mattias was capturing video of the session, coaching his offspring in his native tongue of Swedish. It's the normal way they communicate, even at home, and Kajsa speaks the language like her native tongue.

"Always. It's one of those things we have always done, since she was born," Mattias said. "That's how we relate to each other. Therefore, it doesn't feel natural to speak English to each other. We do when other people are around when it's important people understand what we say. She relates much better to me on every level when we speak in Swedish."

She's not a fan when he talks to her in English due to circumstances.

"We do it to look cool. Just kidding," Kajsa said. "I actually do not like it when he speaks English to me. I just get irritated. That's kind of our thing, and he's always spoken Swedish to me, so when he speaks English, I know I'm in trouble.

"People think we're hiding something, but we're just gatekeeping our coaching. It's coaching for me, not everybody else."

Like any elite athlete, this is a box for Kajsa to mark off. The added bonus of being the latest Borrman to throw the hammer at the national championships just cannot be expressed properly in words.

But it is just one box of many she hopes to click.

"I'm not done checking. I have bigger goals than this," she said. "This is a really great opportunity for me, but it's also just a steppingstone."

Stones her parents walked before her.

The Waiting Game

The four-day event is broken up with men competing the first and third day, the women the second and fourth. Kovatch is a bit jealous of her teammates, both of whom have their events the initial day the women compete.

"I have to wait longer, so the anticipation builds. At the same time, their experiences will be different than mine with different events," Kovatch said. "Seeing what they're going to do is cool; I'm excited for them.

"For me, it's managing excitement levels, making sure my nutrition stays on board, my hydration, my sleep. It's all important because I need to be at my best four days from now. Especially where I'm going to be practicing every day with high level athletes. There's this feeling I need to show up today and be on my game, especially because I'm trying to keep consistency in the ring, so I know what to do on Saturday. It's just important I show up with my 'A' game."

Kajsa is batting leadoff, which she definitely prefers. Of the trio, she is the only one making her debut at nationals.

For Lesnar, it has become old hat – both indoor and outdoor for the shot – while Kovatch is back for the second time, her first trip being to Austin, Texas, two years ago.

"I'm so thankful I'm the first one to compete because then I can get it out of the way and support and watch," Kajsa said. It's nice because I don't have to stress. It's kind of like one and done."

Championship Atmosphere

The facility is recognized nationwide, and for Kovatch, the first trip to Hayward Field exceeded all of her expectations.

"First of all, Hayward is an awesome facility to compete in. Just the energy here; you can tell it's a championship spot," she said. "The ring is nice. I'm excited to see it packed with people. Honestly, the whole Eugene atmosphere with Track Twon USA is so cool to see, how much love they have for track and field. This facility is the epitome of what a track and field facility should be."

Lesnar competed here at nationals last year (placing fifth), and then again during the U.S. Olympic Trials. The awe of the facility is lessened, yet she remains just as impressed.

This will be her last college competition, her goal being to make it feel just like the many the past indoor national champion has experienced prior.

"It's great. It's great to be back with more throwers, with Klaire and Kajsa," Lesnar said. "The facility is great. The ring is great. I just got in there and drilled and get ready to go. Five years of doing this, a lot of ups and downs, but this feels comfortable. The goal for tomorrow is to keep it simple, focus on my cues, don't do anything I haven't done before. It's just a ring and my ball so nothing different. I'm not going to get any of the outside factors affect my throwing.

"I actually think it will be cool competing later. Shot put is always later, but it the weather looks nice, and maybe under the lights a little bit, so that will be cool."

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