Soaring Skyward Big Sky’s Defending Hammer King Has Higher Aspirations After His College Career Is Over

As unlikely sports headlines go, “Timm defends Big Sky hammer crown” falls several gasps short of “Zoeller outwits Deep Blue” or “Barkley declines comment.”

It cannot even compare to “Timm trades hammer for chisel,” and that one is actually true.

To wit: It was in September when Les Timm, the Eastern Washington University senior and defending Big Sky Conference champion in the hammer throw, made the improbable decision to give up track and field, at least temporarily, to make a run at getting accepted to dental school.

“It seemed like the logical - well, not the logical - but what I was supposed to do, I guess,” managed Timm, who also throws the discus. Marcia Mecklenburg, the throws coach at EWU, was shocked.

“I would never guess Les would drop throwing to pursue his other destiny to that extent,” Mecklenburg said. “I tried to give him some other ideas, you know, thoughts that might persuade him to think otherwise, but once Les has an idea, that’s it pretty much.”

Having spent most of the last eight months preparing for the Dental Admissions Test and finishing his degree in secondary education - teaching high school science is Plan B - Timm has done relatively little to ready himself for this weekend’s Big Sky championships at EWU’s Woodward Stadium.

“The plan is to try to get some points, but not to win,” Mecklenburg said. “It’s totally unrealistic to win - I mean, he’s only been back five or six weeks and he wasn’t doing any hard-core strength training all year.”

Meaning the man who won last year’s Big Sky hammer title with a throw of 191 feet, 2 inches will be competing in name only. Since resuming training, Timm has yet to surpass 182-7, well short of the personal- and school-record 200-5 he set as a junior.

“I’m making progress but I won’t reach my PR - that won’t be realistic,” the 6-foot-3, 225-pound Timm said. “I’ve lost strength, lost technique, lost ring time.

“Right now there are two guys (in the conference) that can throw over 200 feet. I think I can have a throw in the 190s.”

Sacramento State’s Justin Carvalho (210-4) and Idaho State’s Scott Boothby (207-0) are the clear favorites this year, while the 23-year-old Timm has other priorities.

Timm will apply next month to about 10 dental schools across the country, although he would prefer the University of Washington - it’s closest to his Omak roots. After spending this summer working with the U.S. Forest Service in Tonasket, Timm plans to spend next school year student teaching and, he hopes, coaching track.

Dental school would begin the following fall. “I don’t want to be too optimistic, but I think I can make it in,” Timm said.

If not, oral health’s loss might be track and field’s gain, Mecklenburg believes.

“He came out and worked with our weight throwers in the fall and was just fantastic,” she said. “He’s so good at working with those people that it’s going to be a shame if he does not continue to coach at the high school level or even the college level.”

Idaho State gets sweep

Northern Arizona’s Sabine Krieger and Idaho State’s Stefan von Campe won multi-event competitions Thursday at the Big Sky meet.

Von Campe led a 1-2-3 Idaho State sweep in the decathlon that scored the Bengals 24 points after one event in the team competition. He scored 7,150 points to provisionally qualify for the NCAA Championships as he edged teammates Sean Christian, with 7,133 points, and Justin Garner, with 7,062.

Krieger scored 5,141 points in the heptathlon to place ahead of Idaho State’s Sarah Mosler (4,879) and Layla Mae Wheeler (4,839). Krieger scored 5,643 points earlier this season to qualify for the NCAA Championships. She currently ranks fourth in the NCAA.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 Color Photos

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Big Sky championships When: Today, 1:30 p.m. for field events and 4:45 for running events; Saturday, 10 a.m. for field events and 12:20 p.m. for running events. Where: EWU’s Woodward Stadium. How much: $3 adults, $2 seniors and children; EWU students free with student identification card. Team favorites: Cal State Northridge women, Weber State men. EWU watch: Seville Broussard is favored in the 400 hurdles, ranks second among Big Sky high jumpers and is third among 100 hurdlers; Adrienne Wilson is the third-ranked long jumper; Tim Archer, second-ranked triple jumper; Andre Ervin, second-ranked high jumper; Jason Baerlocher, third-ranked 800 runner; Mike Dwyer, third-ranked 110 hurdler. Also: Montana’s Todd Hering, a junior sprinter from Pullman with a season-best 10.80 in the 100, has a strained hamstring and may not compete.