It’s a bird, it’s a plane, no wait, it’s a… discus?

Take a step into the world of track and field and you will see metal discs, balls, hammers and javelins flying through the sky. Tucked behind the Nielsen Tennis Stadium, encapsulated by trees and wildlife, you will find the UW-Madison throwing ring where redshirt senior, Josie Schaefer, spends her days.

From a young age, Schaefer had an interest in throwing as she stumbled across her dad’s old rubber discs from when he was in high school. Instead of walking around and throwing it like a frisbee, her dad showed her how to get the job done, “We got really into it and we bonded over it and he set us up in the shed with a tarp and we practiced there all year round and got good at it so I stuck with it,” said Schaefer.

Practicing year-round proved to pay off as the Baraboo native went on to receive multiple offers from colleges, with her final decision landing on UW-Madison. Beyond her dream of working with the incredible Kelsey Card, Schaefer believed Wisconsin was a perfect fit for her overall after meeting with Coach Dave, “We vibed really well right away and he set out what my career would look like and our goals really aligned athletically.”

Due to COVID-19 disrupting the athletic system, Schaefer still has one more year under her belt at Wisconsin. Her career has been extremely impressive thus far as she has found herself spots on both the Indoor and Outdoor Top 10 Performance Lists. On the Indoor performance list, she is ranked first in the shot put with a throw of 59 feet 5 ¼ inches. On the Outdoor performance list, she is ranked second in the discus with a throw of 187 feet 9 inches and second in the shot put with a throw of 60 feet ¼ inches.

Coming off of this past indoor season, Schaefer was hesitant as she did not believe she performed to the best of her ability at Nationals, “Unfortunately, I didn’t execute the technique like I was supposed to. And yeah, that was, that was a big shock to the system…So that was a big heartbreak. But it did give me a renewed focus into this training period between indoor and outdoor and going into the outdoor season.”

Even though her indoor season did not go as planned, her outdoor season has proven to be successful as she has been winning events left and right. Her most recent accomplishment occurred at the Wisconsin Classic, where she not only won shot put but also won discus with a personal best throw of 187 feet 9 inches. With that being said, although she has a great deal of experience within the throwing realm, it seems that she is not quite ready to leave the world of track and field after college.

Schaefer has had some practice throwing at the professional level as she competed in the United States Olympic trials in 2021 and came out with a 10th place finish in shot put and 19th in discus. In order to make it to the Olympic trials, one must be in the top 24 of their event throughout the nation, and it occurs directly after a long and grueling season. It takes a special type of athlete to be able to compete after already competing for the past six months, and Schaefer lived up to this standard.

Seeing this success from her while she is still in school leaves us with the question, what’s next for Schaefer? If you thought she was going to hang up her shoes, you would be mistaken. “I was planning to be done throwing after this year, and then when COVID hit, and I started to throw kind of at the professional elite like flirting with the line to maybe do this after college, those plans kind of changed. So really, I’m just kind of seeing how this year next year goes, and maybe keep throwing for as long as I can.”

Throughout her career, we have seen Schaefer improve by 11 feet in shot put and 13 feet in discus, so just imagine where her ability could go if she continues on after Wisconsin. No matter where she goes, we know she will excel and continue to inspire athletes for years to come.