By Rich Winter

605 Sports

BURKE — At the 2023 state track meet Burke’s Paige Bull was struggling in the Class B discus competition. After two fouls in the preliminary round, Bull needed a throw long enough to make the finals but safe enough to not scratch so she could make the finals. 

Bull reached the finals before improving to 123-02 to win her first state title in the discus. 

“That day I was struggling and I had to get one in after scratching my first two,” Bull said. “In the end it worked out and I pulled it off somehow.” 

The confidence of a state championship helped Bull to an even better junior year. After finishing seventh in the girls discus at the Howard Wood Dakota Relays (127-07), Bull set a massive personal best of 142-02 at the Fort Randall Conference meet on May 7. 

She entered the 2024 state meet as the heavy favorite to repeat as Class B state champion. 

Bull had a solid throw on her first attempt in the preliminaries but she found herself trailing Kadoka sophomore Landyn Koehn. 

“Landyn’s first throw was 139-04 and that made me worry,” she said. 

Facing a fierce wind and the pressure of a state competition, Bull came through. 

“I got one out to 141 and then on my last throw I reached 145-02,” she said. 

In the midst of all the excitement of a second state title in the discus, Bull watched as her Burke teammates clawed and scratched their way to the 2024 Class B team track title. 

“It was amazing and I was proud of our team and how they all pulled together,” she said. “Everyone contributed and it was amazing and I could not have asked to be part of a better team,” she said. 

Bull has been part of some amazing teams during her athletic career at Burke, most notably on the volleyball team. Bull is a 6-feet-1 middle hitter that was an honorable mention all-state player in 2024. 

In each of her four seasons Bull and the Burke team qualified for the Class B state volleyball tournament. 

“Volleyball was great and I loved being part of the team,” Bull said. “I think a lot of our success had to do with the coaches and my teammates. Not a lot of people get to go to four consecutive state tournaments and that is very special to me.”

Bull said she received one offer to play volleyball collegiately but her heart and mind had already committed to throwing the discus in college. 

Bull has already committed to throw at Doane University. The choice to attend Doane wasn’t a difficult decision for Bull. 

“I have a lot of family members that attended Doane,” she said. “My dad went there, two of my sisters went there and my aunt went there. Doane has one of the top throwing programs in the country and I look forward to going there.” 

Bull’s father, Carter Bull, threw the shot put and discus and played football at Doane University. Carter Bull is the throws coach for Burke and the father/daughter team have paired up for enormous success. 

Bull said having her father as a coach has worked to perfection.

“Even if we don’t have certain practice times we can go out and throw,” she said. “I know that he knows what he’s talking about and he knows how to fix the little things where I can improve.” 

Bull has become a student of the sport and described the “little things” that help an athlete throw far. 

“Just hitting the positions you need to hit and finishing strong,” she said. “It’s not just about being strong, you have to know how to use your levers. I’m not super strong but I have long legs and arms. Knowing how to use those levers is crucial to success in the discus.” 

Bull’s personal best in the discus is about three feet from cracking the top-10 in South Dakota history. Winning a third straight title and breaking into the top-10 is high on the list of priorities for  Bull. 

“Making the top-10 is definitely a goal,” she said. “I think it’s doable if I work on the little things and try not to think very much about throwing far.” 

Bull also throws the shot put and hit a personal best of 36-06.75 at Tuesday’s South Central Conference meet in Lake Andes.