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FAIRFIELD – A rural Fairfield woman will be inducted into her high school’s athletic Hall of Fame exactly 50 years since she won the state title in the discus, a throw that was also a school record.

Maria Schinstock Hamm will be honored during halftime of the varsity boys’ basketball game in Fort Madison on Friday, Jan. 31. She and two other Fort Madison alumni will be inducted into the Hall of Fame that day.

Maria grew up on a farm outside Houghton, south of Mt. Pleasant, and went to Catholic school through sixth grade. She finished her education at Fort Madison’s public schools, and threw the discus for three years on its track and field team.

She played community softball throughout her childhood, as did her three older brothers.

“That was the only thing we had for entertainment 50 years ago,” she joked. “Mom and Dad encouraged me to build up an arm. I was the type of person who didn’t want to depend on anybody else but myself. I lost too many softball games in my day, so I chose to do an individual sport in track.”

Going out for track for the first time as a sophomore, Maria proved she had promise in the discus. She won gold at the Junior Olympics and placed second in the Southeast 7 Conference. She did even better her junior year when she was named co-team captain, winning first in the Southeast 7 Conference, taking home three golds and one silver in other meets, and qualifying for state.

Maria separated herself from the pack her senior year. She won the Southeast 7 Conference again and took home three golds and one silver. Only one girl beat her that year, a girl from Davis County, and Maria was surprised to learn that the girl did not quality for state.

“I was nervous because I thought she was going to be there, and she was the only person who had beaten me,” Maria said.

At the state meet, Maria remembers the weather was hot, but the coach still encouraged her to keep her body warm by wearing sweats.

“Nobody else had their sweats on but me,” Maria said.

That Friday, Maria placed in the top six, meaning she would compete in the finals the following day. In the final throw of her high school career, Maria hurled the discus 115 feet and 3 inches. It won her a state title and set a school record that stood for 40 years. For her outstanding performance, Maria was named the Prep Track and Field Athlete of the Year by Coach and Athlete Magazine, won the Iowa State Bar Foundation Citizenship Award and won the Sandy Ninninger Award, presented by the Kiwanis Club of Fort Madison.

Unfortunately, Maria’s parents were never able to attend her track meets because they were busy on the farm. After Maria won the state title in discus, a local newspaper interviewed her family members. Her mother told the reporter, “We never dreamt it would go this far.”

Maria said she got a big help from her sister Diane Menke. Diane and husband Paul lived outside Fort Madison, and Maria often stayed at their place.

“I give her credit for supporting me to do this,” Maria said.

After high school, Maria attended Indian Hills Community College. She married Glenn Hamm, a native of Mt. Pleasant, in 1977, and the couple lived in Glenn’s hometown from 1977 to 1988. They spent a short stint in Altoona before moving to Fairfield in 1990, where they’ve been ever since. Maria worked at Dexter Foundry and is now retired. The couple’s two children, Stephanie Daly and Scott Hamm, graduated from FHS. Stephanie resides in Mount Prospect, Illinois, while Scott lives in Solon.

Maria said that she received a phone call last fall from her former track coach Tim Lamb, informing her of her upcoming induction into the Fort Madison Hall of Fame.

“My coach told me, ‘You should have been in this a long time ago,’ and he apologized three or four times,” Maria said.

Maria has a large family with 20 nieces and nephews. A niece and a nephew were inspired by their aunt’s success in the discus that they took that up as well.