Genesis Castro was a dancer, mostly ballet and tap, when she saw they were holding sign-ups for football in the cafeteria. The seventh-grader walked over and took the paper.
That was her first step toward becoming No. 50. A tackle on defense, a guard on offense and one of the best linemen on Lincoln’s middle school team.
Castro wanted to break a stereotype. To show football didn’t have to be a boys club. It was a scary pursuit.
“There would be people 10 times my size, or that’s how it felt,” she said. “Then there was little old me. I was the shortest person on the team.”
Football wasn’t Castro’s only sport back then. McCaskey’s junior was also a sprinter for the track and field team. She was powerful, surprisingly so for her 5-foot-4 frame, and was told she should try throwing in high school.
The girl who once chased down running backs can now fling a discus farther than anyone in the state. McCaskey’s coaches steered Castro toward her best discipline. She did the rest.
“With her speed, we thought she could develop,” coach Derek Jennings said. “She was so strong, just naturally, that it seemed to make sense. Sometimes in the throws you don’t have as much depth. She kind of migrated that way and got better and better.”
The breakthrough came at the Cy Fritz Open at Millersville April 26. All the potential Castro showed over the previous two seasons clicked.
Castro reached 139-2, shattering both the meet and school records, to take over the No. 1 spot in Pennsylvania. Lancaster Catholic’s Margaret Bila is second at 134-4.
That day felt different the moment Castro stepped into the circle.
“I got this random rush of adrenaline,” she said. “Then once I got to my power position, everything felt perfect. Everything aligned. I just watched it go and it made me feel happy.”
Success in the discus usually takes time. There are a lot of moving parts to the perfect technique and it requires many repetitions to master.
Castro was routinely hitting big throws during practices in March. Those results weren’t showing up at the bigger meets. The junior only reached 88 feet at the Black Knight Invitational on April 13. She threw 95-9 at Bruce Dallas at Cumberland Valley a week earlier.
Getting to this point required patience and perseverance.
“It’s been up and down,” Jennings said. “It’s been a little rocky. It’s a long season and you can’t panic.”
Castro proved that her 139-2 wasn’t a fluke when she hit 138-2 at the Henderson Invitational at West Chester Friday. She placed first in a talented field.
If Castro stuck with sprints, she could likely run the 100 in about 13 seconds. That’s an incredible time for someone so accomplished in the throws. She ranks third in the Lancaster-Lebanon League in the javelin and seventh in the shot put.
It’s interesting that discus has become Castro’s best event. It certainly wasn’t love at first try.
“I absolutely hated discus my whole ninth grade year,” Castro said. “Every time we would practice it, I would do one or two throws and move to something completely different.”
Whenever Castro talked to throws coach Liz Fulmer about quitting, Fulmer said Castro could quit for a few minutes and then come back to it. It was good advice.
The McCaskey discus record Castro broke was set by Niecy Houston at 133-10 in 1981. Castro took a picture of the board and kept it in her phone for motivation. Soon, her name will be in that case outside of the gym..
Castro has found her calling. It’s not dance or football or sprints. It’s inside the circle throwing objects as far as she can.
“Within myself, I’m very competitive,” Castro said. “I always want to progress and do better. I’m really glad I never gave up.”
At one of Castro’s first invitationals as a freshman, she unexpectedly reached the finals. One of the other competitors referred to the newcomer as the “first flight girl.”
Castro found the comment insulting and filed it away in her memory. She didn’t want to be viewed as second tier. She wanted to be considered one of the best.
Two years later, no one in the state is ahead of her.
