In the Circle: Opening Weekend Throwing

In the debut of a new regular DtB feature we're calling "In the Circle," Kevin Holubar keeps an informed eye on Minnesota's top throwers. He attended the Northwest Open last Saturday and offers the following early season "notes and quotes" from around the throwing event circles.

You can also follow the throwing events on Kevin's blog Throwing Farther, HERE.

Opening Weekend Highlights
By Kevin Holubar

Division I ... Lynne Anderson, University of Minnesota Women's Throws Coach, entering his 28th season, said meets this early in the season are a "chance for them to show me what they've got and it looks like we're off to a good start." Kari Schmidt won the women's shot put with a throw of 47-9. Schmidt, a senior out of Chisago Lakes, who ranks #9 in shot put all-time at the U of M, started off her final season in maroon and gold well.

Former Gopher All-American Lynden Reder on the opening performance of the 2009 men: "We were basically training through this meet and most of January. It was a great opportunity for some of our younger throwers to step up." Micah Hegerle, red shirting freshmen from Kasson-Mantorville, performed well in his first meet at the U (49-6 weight throw).

"We got a good performance out of Micah. He's got a lot of potential and has some great guys to learn from," Reder said. The Gophers are returning two scorers from last year's Big Ten Championships and have several athletes with the potential to score in '09. Aaron Studt leads the returning core of the throwers. Studt was a national qualifier in the shot put (62' 7 1/2") and weight throw (65-4 3/4) in 2008. 5th-year senior Andy Bastain and senior Jerry Netland along with freshmen Tyler Kleinhuizen and Trey Davis round out the team. "We have a good chance to have several scorers at Big Ten's this year. We're going to be training through most of January because these guys performing at their best in February at Big Ten's is what it's all about," said Reder.

Division II ... At the MSU Alumni meet held at Minnesota State - Mankato, Adam Kershaw (54-1 1/4) of St. Cloud State and Michael Robinson ( 54-9 1/2) of Mankato had promising marks to open the season. Travis Zins, Throws Coach of SCSU said that it's a great start to the season. "He's been working hard and it's nice to start off with a personal best in the first meet of the season."

Throws Clinic ... St. Cloud State will offer a throwing clinic for boys and girls in grades 9-12, on Monday, Jan. 19. The clinic will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on the indoor track of SCSU's Halenbeck Hall.

The clinic will feature expert instruction from St. Cloud State University coaches and athletes in the basics of the discus and shot put (rotational and glide). The cost is $30 per athlete, and the clinic includes a free lunch for all participants.

For complete registration information, contact Travis Zins at 320-308-1255 or e-mail him at tczins@stcloudstate.edu.