For Immediate
Release: Contact:
January 24,
2008 (208) 235-5604
Throw
One Deep at Simplot Games
POCATELLO, Idaho – The Throw One Deep club has thrown several “deep” while competing at
Simplot Games. Traveling all the way from Marietta, Ga., the throwing squad
swept the top five out of six places in the women’s weight throw, and clinched
three of six in the women’s shot put. On the boy’s side they swept all six
places in the weight throw, and took 2nd place in the shot put.
Throw One Deep throwing club
began in 1999 by level 2 USATF coach and coaching instructor Mike Judge. His
main inspiration for starting the elite club was to give young throwers a
better chance of receiving college scholarships after high school. The club has
helped over 60 athletes receive college scholarships. So what sets the athletes
participating in Throw One Deep ahead of the competition?
Practices are held five days
a week. Four to five of those days athletes are lifting weights on top of at
least two hours of throwing. A typical Throw One Deep practice can range from
two hours to three and a half hours in length. A majority of the athletes make
summer teams, so Throw One Deep trains all year round. This training is much
more time consuming and rigorous than most high-school programs. Judge says it
is more like college training.
Currently he has about 24
kids on the waiting list to be a part of the club. Although the club is very
popular and Judge has coached over 80 high school all-Americans, he gives all
the credit to his athletes for their success.
“A good coach can only tell
an athlete what to do,” says Judge. “These kids work harder than anybody.”
Even after a three hour long
practice, the athletes are able to go home and do homework so they get the job
done in the class room as well. At the Nike Indoor Nationals, six athletes were
awarded all academic honors; three of them were from Throw One Deep.
When the club travels to
Simplot Games, it takes a full day of traveling and almost $20,000. Judge
believes it is all worth it.
“It is a great competition,”
says Judge. “You have to get a lot of experience. The Simplot Games is a big,
well-known meet, and the kids get a lot of good experience. It’s a big deal
when at big college meets they have a lot of experience so they don’t get too
nervous. The Simplot Games is a great meet and a great experience.”
Junior Lauren Chambers, a
five-year veteran of Throw One Deep and returning Games champion in the weight
throw and runner-up in the shot put, also feels the Simplot Games are worth the
long trip.
“I love it,” says Chambers.
“It is a good experience throwing indoors. It gives me a sense of how I will do
at other big meets and nationals.”
Wes Wright is looking to
capture the Simplot Games record in the weight throw and win both the weight
throw and shot put. Wright is the returning champion in the weight throw, last
year’s runner-up in the shot put, and will be throwing at Ohio State next year.
Like teammate Chambers, Wright is excited about coming to the Games.
“It has good competition, and
there isn’t a better indoor meet to try to set yourself up to do good at nationals,”
says Wright.
Chambers and Wright love
being a part of Throw One Deep. It is much more than just a throwing club.
Chambers and her teammates are very close friends, and hang out outside of
practice and on the weekends. When there are new members in the club, the
returning athletes really try to include them.
“Throw One Deep is a good
experience,” says Chambers. “You make friends and get to train with a good
coach. It really has given me a sense of what college life will be like.”
Wright
enjoys the intensity of Throw One Deep.
“It has a great intensity
level and you get to be around great throwers,” adds Wright. “You benefit to
have people around you that want to do just as good as you do, and work just as
hard as you do.”
Throw One Deep has produced
some of the best throwers at the high school level and in the NCAA. Jake
Dunkelberger, a former Simplot competitor and Throw One Deep member, is the
NCAA champion in the hammer throw. This June, Dunkelberger will most likely
participate at the Olympic trials.
Another Throw One Deep
athlete to be on the lookout for this year is Allison Horner. She is one of the
most highly recruited women’s hammer throwers in the country and has a good
chance of being on the world junior team.
It is almost guaranteed you
will hear about a majority of the Throw One Deep throwers in the future, and
they will be a strong force at this year’s Simplot Games.
For more information on
Simplot Games, please visit our website at www.simplotgames.com or you may contact
Carol Lish at (208) 235-5604.
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