Magnani signs with UNI

MT. PLEASANT - Lexie Magnani is a Northern Iowa Panther. The reigning Class 3A girls shot put champion signed her letter of intent on Friday at the Mt. Pleasant High School media center, surrounded by her immediate family.

Although Magnani made her signing on the traditional table in the MPCHS media center, the scene around her was quite different. The signing took place during a 'Zoom” meeting online, and friends, family and coaches were all able to join and watch.

Magnani took questions from the media over the 'Zoom” app, and spoke about her decision to make Cedar Falls her new home away from home.

'When I looked at all my schools, I felt like UNI was a good fit for me, and it was the perfect size,” Magnani says. 'It's Division 1, the highest level that you can performan in athletics, and I feel like I (wanted) that challenge.”

Magnani says she will for sure throw shot put and that she is going to try the hammer throw.

Magnani dominated the 2019 state meet, throwing a 42-05.25 to win the shot put title despite a downpour before the event took place. The shot put circle had to be moved to the infield due to the rain. On Friday, throwing coach Shawn Striegel mentioned Magnani's ability to adjust to the less-than-ideal conditions.

'Her competitiveness is top knotch and she adapts very well to situations,” Striegel said. 'A prime example of that was last year when she won the state title. There was a bunch of water in the circle and she was the only one who adapted.”

Magnani credited Coach Striegel, as well as her parents and brothers, for pushing her throughout high school, and also credited Mt. Pleasant's track program in general.

'It helps a lot that we have a really good track program,” Magnani said. 'It definitely gets our name out there. We've had a lot of good track athletes.”

Magnani was all set to defend her Class 3A title in 2020, if the season were to have happened. She says she went out and threw every day to get ready for the season, even when it was in doubt.

Coach Striegel says he saw her potential early in to her time at Mt. Pleasant. He credited Magnani's middle school coaches for getting her ready for high school, and says it was clear from the beginning that she could go on to do great things.

'Even in middle school, people knew she was special,” Striegel said. 'There is just some explosion that some people have and some people don't. She's just gifted in that area. She's made huge jumps, better than most throwers I've had. I don't know if you truly know when you are going to have that state champion, but she's very special.”

Magnani plans on studying Criminal Justice and possibly Pscyhology when she gets to UNI.