Vandals Thrower Having A Ball

College track and field

Now here’s a quote you’ve never heard from a thrower before: “I don’t need to get stronger.”

And yet Shana Ball said it.

Next, we’ll be hearing from sprinters who don’t need to get faster.

But given what the University of Idaho junior has done the past two weeks, she should be taken at her word.

It started at the Cougar Invitational in Pullman, where Ball cranked her seasonal best in the shot put up about 2-1/2 feet to 46-3-1/4 - the best outdoor throw in the area this spring. And just last weekend in Seattle, she added a whopping 21 feet to her discus best with a school-record fling of 160-6.

“It really wasn’t that surprising - I was expecting something like that,” she said. “Mostly, it was just a relief.”

A relief?

Well, it seems that during her first two years at Idaho, Ball couldn’t even reach her best marks from her high school days in McMinnville, Ore. - 45-2 in the shot, 132-10 in the discus.

“It’s frustrating not being able to do better than you did in high school,” she admitted. “If this season hadn’t turned out as good as it’s been, I probably would have given up.”

But it’s been good for a reason. Well, two reasons.

One, she decided that year-round training was finally in order. So instead of taking last summer off, she worked out relentlessly - putting on 20 pounds of muscle mass. Hence her comment about not needing more strength.

And two, she changed her shot put technique from the traditional glide to the spin - and it’s had a positive impact on both throws.

“For me to have any success in the shot so quickly is a miracle - some throwers have had to redshirt a year to make the adjustment,” said Ball. “And it’s helped my discus, too, because I’m doing the same motion. Throwing both every day basically gives me twice the work on it.”

Ball’s quantum improvements have made her the second-best combo thrower in the Big West Conference behind Cal Poly’s Stephanie Brown (50-8 and 173-2). Not bad for someone Idaho landed almost by default. Her twin sister, Alisa, is a high jumper for Big West rival Nevada (she’s cleared 5-7 this year).

“For me, it came down to that school and Idaho,” Ball said, “and we decided to go our separate ways, so here I am.

“It’s been good for us. When you grow up being two people instead of just you, it’s great to find out how different you really are.”

An unqualified success

The latest issue of Track and Field News has the magazine panel’s annual NCAA predictions, and Washington State’s Bernard Lagat is picked to win both the 1,500 and 5,000 meters in Boise next month.

Just one problem: He has no qualifying time in the shorter race, and is only 32nd on the provisional list for the 5,000 - not high enough to get him in. Nor does the double winner at the NCAA Indoor have a qualifying time in the 800.

He’ll try to get his 5,000 qualifier - he needs to run 13:48 - Friday night at Stanford. Then he’ll run the mile at Modesto on Saturday, needing a 3:59 clocking to qualify for the NCAA 1,500.

“We’re running out of races,” admitted WSU distance coach James Li.

WSU’s schedule has worked against getting those qualifying times. Lagat has doubled and even tripled in most of the Cougars’ scoring meets.

“It could actually work out better,” Li contended. “His indoor season was pretty taxing mentally and physically with all those big races. Having almost two months with relatively lesser competition could be good for him, but we’ll have to see.”

My team needs exactly $20,000 …

In a scene that could have been out of “Caddyshack,” retiring Idaho men’s coach Mike Keller gave a hefty going-away present to his program this week. By playing 100 holes of golf at the UI course in less than 8 hours Monday, Keller raised $20,000 toward team travel and new uniforms.

With sponsors kicking in $200 per hole, Keller actually completed his marathon round in 6 hours, 3 minutes - averaging 88.2 strokes per 18.

“Heck, that’s better than I normally shoot,” he said. “And it was 29 degrees when we started at 7:30. I went through three sets of gloves.”

The weekend

WSU and Idaho will send a handful of top athletes to California.

Joining Lagat at Stanford today will be Chris Charles in the 5,000, Vinnie Pecht in the discus, Alishia Booterbaugh in the women’s 800 and Megan Maynard in the women’s 5,000. At Modesto on Saturday, the Cougars contingent will include Francesca Sewell (100 and long jump), Randi Smith (both hurdles), Cicely Clinkenbeard (triple jump), Andrea Thornton (hammer), Demetrius Murray (triple jump) and Arend Watkins (high hurdles). Keller is sending his top sprinters, hammer thrower Jeff High, shot putter Joachim Olsen and discus thrower Daniel Benetka.

Most everyone else in the area will be at the WSU Invitational in Pullman, with Whitworth and EWU sending athletes to the Pacific Northwest Regionals in Tacoma.

Last laps

Mead graduate Leah Merrill of Eastern Oregon University, an Indoor All-American, is ranked second among NAIA hammer throwers with a best of 167-6 and has qualified for nationals later this month in West Palm Beach, Fla.

Ryan Weidman, a Central Valley and Community Colleges of Spokane alum, is the third-ranked javelin thrower in the NCAA Division II ranks with a 210-1 toss for Texas A&M-Kingsville.