It’s been a while since our last episode, but the podcast is still alive and kicking. With the season over we take time to look back our the training successs and failures. Plus we throw in a few classic rants and life lessons along the way.
Kayden Hulet (Debbie Smith CTE Academy, Reno, NV) took down Rudy Winkler’s 13-year old championship record to secure the win in the hammer throw at this year’s Nike Outdoor Nationals, while Kim Beard (Kings, Shoreline, WA) followed up her USATF U20 Championships win on Friday with another victory in Eugene.
For decades, coaches have trained female athletes the same way they train male athletes — or worse, held them back entirely out of myth and misunderstanding. In this episode of the GAINcast, Vern Gambetta sits down with Morgan Smith, senior performance coach for US Soccer’s women’s youth national teams and former Stanford post-doctoral researcher, to tackle what we actually know about training the female athlete.
The 2026 New Balance Nationals Outdoors were highlighted by a new personal best and wins from Jake Early (Cary, NC) and Ainsley Cuthbertson (Lexington, MA).
Results from Adidas Outdoor Nationals in North Carolina.
The USATF U20 Championships, the top junior throwers in the coutnry (born on January 1, 2007 or after) met to fight for the title of national champion, as well as potential spots on Team USA for the World U20 Championship in Eugene in August. In the women’s competition, college freshman dominatetd with Burklie Burton (Oklahoma State) winning. Kim Beard (Kings, Shoreline, WA) took bronze with a new national high school lead. In the boy’s competition high school national leader Kayden Hulet (Debbie Smith CTE Academy, Reno, NV) set a new best with the 6-kilogram hammer to win a convincing victory.
Indoor national champion Kayden Hulet (Sparks, NV) made his hammer throw debut in style, tossing a huge national lead to win the Golden West Invitational. The mark is also sixth best all-time in the country.
State leaders Dimitri Johnson (Bishop Hendricken, Warwick, RI) took a convincing win on the boy’s side while second-ranked Tayla Schneider (North Kingstown, RI) hit a personal best to take the girl’s crown.
With a new personal best to win, Johnny Parker (Davis, Kaysville, UT) added more than 30 feet to his best and shoots up to second in the nation.
This year’s Washington State Hammer Championship as a special edition, as it marked a 20 year anniversary of the first meet and a return to PLU which hosted the inauguralevent. Girls national leader Kim Beard (Kings, Shoreline, WA) took the title, whil Teerapaht Phongprasansak (Kamiak, Mukilteo, WA) led the boy’s with a personal best.
