Junior Luke Johnson stands at the mark with anticipation, and with raw strength and days of hard-work, throws the shot put with the intentions of not just breaking a personal record, but of bringing home the win for his school.
Shot-put is a track and field event that dates back as to the Greek Olympics and was made an official modern Olympic event in 1896 for men and 1948 for women. The high school field event includes the athlete throwing a twelve-pound ball (eight-pound for females) as far as their strength will allow them.
Although the event is simplistic in nature, Johnson admits the training that goes into becoming great is more difficult than it would seem.
“Even though there is no exact training program for shot-put, we run to build endurance and do weights for strength,” Johnson said. “Personally, I run and lift weights to build the strength of my wrists and shoulders and do push-ups to build more muscle.”
While throwing, the athlete must keep the shot close to the neck, and keep it tight to the neck throughout the motion. During the motion, the shot must be released above the height of the shoulder, using only one hand, and must land within the legal sector. Foul throws can occur if an athlete drops the shot below or outside the vertical plane of the shoulder during the shot or throwing a shot that lands outside the legal sector.
Not only do athletes need to train their arms, they also do training to strengthen their legs, core, and chest to obtain the farthest throw each and every time. Unlike many athletes, Johnson had the opportunity to defeat his brother in a meet.
“My brother Caleb and I were at the regional indoor track meet last year and we had warmed up and were ready to throw,” Johnson said. “With each throw, we became more and more excited and on my final throw I set a new personal record of 41 feet, 5.75 inches, and had beaten my brother. He was so mad, but he came up to me and congratulated me.”
The world record for shot-put was set by American Randy Barnes with 75.853 feet (23.12 feet) in 1990 at UCLA’s (University of California, Los Angeles) Drake Stadium.
Indoor track and field coach Brian Griffin has coached Johnson for three years and watched him blossom as an athlete.
“He’s a hard worker with a very competitive mind set,” Griffin said. “When he does bad he’s harder on himself than anyone else.”
Although very competitive, Johnson believes that a relationship among teammates is a massive key to success.
“He’s very support of his team and teammates and a great person to have around the team,” Griffin said.
Along with being a productive member of both indoor and outdoor track, Johnson is a member of the varsity football team. Even though he enjoys playing football, Johnson would rather be out practicing shot-put.
“I just generally enjoy the people around me,” Johnson said. “We’re serious when we need to be serious, but have fun and mess around when the time is right.”
Even though Johnson has not decided on what he wants to do in the future, sports are definitely going to be taken into consideration.
“I’m not really sure what I want to do yet, but it’s a decision I’ll be thinking about a lot in the next few months,” Johnson said. “As far as Division 1 schools, Michigan and Virginia Tech are two that are on top of my list.”
