Track Season Preview: Throws
January 10, 2018 | Track & Field
Washington's 2018 track season kicks off on Saturday as the Huskies host the UW Indoor Preview, the first of five big collegiate meets set for the Dempsey. In the third event preview, third-year assistant coach Jason Schutz takes a look at the throwing events. Last season saw 2017 graduate Carson Fuller win the first Pac-12 title in any throwing event for Washington since 2006, and returners Gina Flint and Onyie Chibuogwu each set PRs to take 2nd at Pac-12s in the discus and hammer, respectively. Washington signed two of the top men's discus throwers in the nation this season, adding to a growing roster of talent that looks to be as well-rounded a group as the Huskies have had in a number of years. And with no seniors on the men's side, UW is looking to continue trending up.
Throws
Returning 2017 Conference Scorers and NCAA Qualifiers
Men
Denham Patricelli, Javelin (6th at Pac-12s; 24th at NCAA Prelims)
Women
Onyie Chibuogwu, Hammer (2nd at Pac-12s; 25th at NCAA Prelims)
Emmy Engle, Javelin (36th at NCAA Prelims)
Gina Flint, Discus (2nd at Pac-12s); Shot Put (7th at Pac-12s; 23rd at NCAA Prelims)
Assistant Coach Jason Schutz
How has training been going with your group? This looks to be your most well-rounded group yet.
We added some depths in some events that we were a little weaker. Across the board we've got nineteen throwers this year between the men and women. We lost Carey Campbell a year early to law school so we're happy for him but that makes us a little weaker in the men's hammer than we planned to be, but across the board we're bringing a lot of kids off of redshirts last year and we've got a lot of exciting younger freshmen and sophomores. We're excited. I think the fall went really well. I think we're really healthy now which for us, especially with the way things have been the past couple of years with trying to keep people healthy, we're the healthiest we've been since I've been here. Our depth is better and with our top-end we've got some kids who can go do some really cool things at the Pac-12 and national level, so it should be an exciting year.
Did having the runner-up finishes for Gina Flint and Onyie Chibuogwu and the Pac-12 title for Carson Fuller give your group a boost as a whole?
The way we competed at Pac-12s last year, obviously we didn't really compete the way we wanted to at the Regional meet, but I do think that some of those breakthrough performances always help reinforce that the training is going well and heading in the right direction. Every year that happens you see more confidence and better training through the fall and that leads itself into a better season and sustains itself that way. So having those things happen, Gina is healthy and can actually train this year, where last year she was just going off three weeks of training and had a good Pac-12 meet. It's hard to build off that without training, so now that she's training it could be really exciting. So I think the Pac-12 meet last year could be a really good springboard for us for this year.
What events do you see being the biggest strengths this season?
It starts with the javelin for us. Denham Patricelli has been able to string together a couple years of healthy training, and I think he's ready to take the next step this year and go be an All-American for us and lead us there. Behind him we've got a couple guys coming off of redshirts in Dalton Sugg and Jacob Wachtendonk that I think are talented. Draven Nevarez coming in as one of the top guys in the senior class last year is a good guy to come in and really help that group be deep and strong at the conference level and beyond.
We brought in a couple really good discus guys in Jonah Wilson and Elijah Mason. Jose Padilla is starting to figure it out, he's young in the sport still. Jack Lembcke is coming back off a redshirt and shoulder surgery and this is as healthy as he's ever been, so I think the men's discus and shot are going to be really strong events for us as well.
On the women's side, we've got Gina and Angel coming back for us in the shot put, so I think that's going to be a really strong event for us because we add Ginny Mehl in there who is a tremendous athlete that now is focusing on track and not doing basketball or volleyball, so I think she's going to be a really special thrower for us in multiple events.
Adding Katie Wardsworth, one of the best hammer throwers in the conference for a fifth year really helps us, to go along with Onyie who obviously is our school record-holder. Angel is starting to figure the hammer out, so that's going to be a better event for us this year.
Then the women's javelin we have girls that are getting more experienced. Emmy's only really thrown javelin or one full year, and she's starting to figure some things out, and Katherine Taylor and Daisey Newman are putting things together and having good training sessions, so that's going to be another good event for us.
So we're really excited for indoor as a springboard to outdoor season. We're a little better in the long throws, the jav, discus and hammer, those are great events for us, so indoor will be fun and outdoor will be really exciting.
Among the returners, who do you think could be in position to take that next step, or who might surprise some people?
I think Denham staying healthy and being able to train, I think he's ready to take the next step for us. Gina has trained more in the fall than she's trained in the prior two years with me and if she can continue to string some things together, she's special so she could take a leap forward this year. Jack Lembcke has been banged up and got a bad shoulder repaired last year so he's more confident than I've seen him and I think he could have a nice jump forward. Jose Padilla, he's so young at the sport, and he's a really great athlete for his size. Emmy as well, new to the sport but a great athlete and she could take a big jump as well.
How is the freshman class handling the transition and fitting in with the group?
They come in with an expectation to win and compete at a high level. We have Washington and Arizona and California state champions, their expectation is to come in and compete at a high level fairly soon, so I think that brings a lot of energy to the group. You want to have competition within your group. We want to compete against each other for spots on trips and for conference championships and that kind of thing. So to bring in that caliber of kid it brings some juice to the rest of the group. Our energy is good this year, our team culture is continuing to get better and I think we're competitive within our group but they understand the more they push each other the better it's going to make them. So I've seen a good uptick in energy and competitiveness and I think a lot of that comes from new blood that you mix in there.
Throws
Returning 2017 Conference Scorers and NCAA Qualifiers
Men
Denham Patricelli, Javelin (6th at Pac-12s; 24th at NCAA Prelims)
Women
Onyie Chibuogwu, Hammer (2nd at Pac-12s; 25th at NCAA Prelims)
Emmy Engle, Javelin (36th at NCAA Prelims)
Gina Flint, Discus (2nd at Pac-12s); Shot Put (7th at Pac-12s; 23rd at NCAA Prelims)
Assistant Coach Jason Schutz
How has training been going with your group? This looks to be your most well-rounded group yet.
We added some depths in some events that we were a little weaker. Across the board we've got nineteen throwers this year between the men and women. We lost Carey Campbell a year early to law school so we're happy for him but that makes us a little weaker in the men's hammer than we planned to be, but across the board we're bringing a lot of kids off of redshirts last year and we've got a lot of exciting younger freshmen and sophomores. We're excited. I think the fall went really well. I think we're really healthy now which for us, especially with the way things have been the past couple of years with trying to keep people healthy, we're the healthiest we've been since I've been here. Our depth is better and with our top-end we've got some kids who can go do some really cool things at the Pac-12 and national level, so it should be an exciting year.
Did having the runner-up finishes for Gina Flint and Onyie Chibuogwu and the Pac-12 title for Carson Fuller give your group a boost as a whole?
The way we competed at Pac-12s last year, obviously we didn't really compete the way we wanted to at the Regional meet, but I do think that some of those breakthrough performances always help reinforce that the training is going well and heading in the right direction. Every year that happens you see more confidence and better training through the fall and that leads itself into a better season and sustains itself that way. So having those things happen, Gina is healthy and can actually train this year, where last year she was just going off three weeks of training and had a good Pac-12 meet. It's hard to build off that without training, so now that she's training it could be really exciting. So I think the Pac-12 meet last year could be a really good springboard for us for this year.
What events do you see being the biggest strengths this season?
It starts with the javelin for us. Denham Patricelli has been able to string together a couple years of healthy training, and I think he's ready to take the next step this year and go be an All-American for us and lead us there. Behind him we've got a couple guys coming off of redshirts in Dalton Sugg and Jacob Wachtendonk that I think are talented. Draven Nevarez coming in as one of the top guys in the senior class last year is a good guy to come in and really help that group be deep and strong at the conference level and beyond.
We brought in a couple really good discus guys in Jonah Wilson and Elijah Mason. Jose Padilla is starting to figure it out, he's young in the sport still. Jack Lembcke is coming back off a redshirt and shoulder surgery and this is as healthy as he's ever been, so I think the men's discus and shot are going to be really strong events for us as well.
On the women's side, we've got Gina and Angel coming back for us in the shot put, so I think that's going to be a really strong event for us because we add Ginny Mehl in there who is a tremendous athlete that now is focusing on track and not doing basketball or volleyball, so I think she's going to be a really special thrower for us in multiple events.
Adding Katie Wardsworth, one of the best hammer throwers in the conference for a fifth year really helps us, to go along with Onyie who obviously is our school record-holder. Angel is starting to figure the hammer out, so that's going to be a better event for us this year.
Then the women's javelin we have girls that are getting more experienced. Emmy's only really thrown javelin or one full year, and she's starting to figure some things out, and Katherine Taylor and Daisey Newman are putting things together and having good training sessions, so that's going to be another good event for us.
So we're really excited for indoor as a springboard to outdoor season. We're a little better in the long throws, the jav, discus and hammer, those are great events for us, so indoor will be fun and outdoor will be really exciting.
Among the returners, who do you think could be in position to take that next step, or who might surprise some people?
I think Denham staying healthy and being able to train, I think he's ready to take the next step for us. Gina has trained more in the fall than she's trained in the prior two years with me and if she can continue to string some things together, she's special so she could take a leap forward this year. Jack Lembcke has been banged up and got a bad shoulder repaired last year so he's more confident than I've seen him and I think he could have a nice jump forward. Jose Padilla, he's so young at the sport, and he's a really great athlete for his size. Emmy as well, new to the sport but a great athlete and she could take a big jump as well.
How is the freshman class handling the transition and fitting in with the group?
They come in with an expectation to win and compete at a high level. We have Washington and Arizona and California state champions, their expectation is to come in and compete at a high level fairly soon, so I think that brings a lot of energy to the group. You want to have competition within your group. We want to compete against each other for spots on trips and for conference championships and that kind of thing. So to bring in that caliber of kid it brings some juice to the rest of the group. Our energy is good this year, our team culture is continuing to get better and I think we're competitive within our group but they understand the more they push each other the better it's going to make them. So I've seen a good uptick in energy and competitiveness and I think a lot of that comes from new blood that you mix in there.
Players Mentioned
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