Navasota junior Rodney Brown has the patience of a fisherman. He's comfortable fishing for catfish, but his patience isn't limitless.

"If you haven't caught anything, you're fishing in the wrong place," Brown said.

This week, Brown is fishing in the perfect place to draw attention to his talents in the discus and shot put. He's at the state track and field meet.

It's the discus ring, though, where Brown will step inside the net, and he's the big cat after a state-best throw of 198 feet, 6 inches earlier this year.

Brown's best discus throw came at the Willis Wildkat Relays. He also topped 190 feet in Brenham's regional qualifiers meet at 191-7.

The top catch for Brown would be bringing home a gold medal with a worthy throw. Brown has proven he is capable.

"When we were over at Willis, I was standing at about 180 feet, and he whizzed one right by me," Navasota track coach Sean Witherwax said. "It was a big meet with big schools trying to get a practice meet in on their way to the Texas Relays."

Brown left his impression near the 200-foot mark.

"Chalk flew up," said Witherwax. "I've had some good ones, but I've never had a 200-foot discus thrower."

Few have.

To be considered an official state record, a track mark must be set at the state meet. Splendora's Brian Robison, another Region III discus competitor, threw 203-1 in 2002 for the best in Class 3A. The overall state mark in the discuss is held by Round Rock's Roger Roesler, who threw 208-8 at state in 1996.

"I threw about 180, and on my second throw, he told me to try to get to 200," Brown said. "200? Yeah, that's been my goal."

It's been a steady progression for the 5-foot-11, 218-pound Brown, now one of the state's best throwers.

As a sophomore, he finished second at the District 24-3A meet with a good, but hardly head-turning, throw of 145-7. He also placed second at regional, improving his throw to 154-5.

In his initial state meet, he placed sixth at 158-4 and pocketed the experience of competing on the main stage.

"I think experience is a factor, a little bit," Brown said. "I would say more than that it's practice, concentration and coaches."

He remembers focusing on his technique and leaving behind the distractions.

"On my first throw, I was looking around and watching with the rink being in the middle of the field," Browns said. "You can't try to please everybody. You focus on what you have to do and do it right."

Focus may seem like a problem for Brown because of his demeanor.

"He's pretty laid back," Witherwax said. "At regional he scratched on his first throw and had a horrible second throw for him. I was going nuts."

Brown took it in stride.

"He said, 'Coach, don't worry about it. I'll get in,'" Witherwax said. "It's awfully good to have a bad day, a horrible mark and still have a chance to go to the finals to win it."

Brown's dedication has driven his improvement, Witherwax contends. He studies Youtube.com videos of other throwers in an effort to improve his technique. It has driven Brown to work harder because he sees a future in track.

He will be a two-event competitor, having taken a surprise regional championship win in the shot put.

"It's my first time in the shot," Brown said. "What happens happens."

While many athletes hope to use track in an effort to help them in other sports, the discus competition is the sport for Brown, who hopes to draw the attention of college coaches. It has been limited so far.

"Naw, not very much," Brown said. "Just a few letters."

But he's headed to the right place to help fill his mailbox, and it's his second year to compete in Austin in the discus. Brown can see it as a route to a college education.

"He knows he has an opportunity to go on and go to college and do things some other kids don't do," Witherwax said. "Some are scared by that. It's driving him to work even harder."