Go big or foul trying

By Joe Scalzo

Youngstown State throwers mix playing

safe, risking it all at Horizon gathering

YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown State throwing coach Shawn Cobey stood a few feet outside the throwing circle on campus Thursday afternoon, watching senior Bethany Anderson throw the hammer during her flight for the Horizon League Championship.

She unleashed a decent throw, Cobey nodded and said, “That’s a nice, safe throw. Now you can go after it.”

Then he turned and said, “I think that might be the conference record.”

Does that mean she’s gonna win?

“Oh yeah,” he said.

Know this. Unlike some of her competitors, Anderson is still in the midst of heavy training that will prepare her for the regional meet in three weeks. Winning the league title was, well, a given, considering she’s won it three years in a row and was able to set the conference record (55.61 meters or 182 feet, 5 inches) on her “safe” throw.

“It’s a great honor to go out with a victory,” said Anderson, who also took second in the discus. “I’m not happy, though. I’m not gonna lie.”

Anderson’s best throw is 58.05 — a little under 191 feet — and, like several of her teammates, she spent most of her time Thursday trying to hit a big throw (in her case, 60 meters) to earn a spot for nationals or the Olympic trials.

It’s not quite “Go big or go home.” More like “Go big or foul trying.”

“The conference meet is all about placing,” Cobey said. “You take one safe throw and make sure you get your mark to get to finals. After that, you go after your best throw.

“It gives you the best chance of scoring big at conference.”

YSU placed four of the top five in the women’s hammer throw. Anderson is one of three Penguins who have already qualified for the regional meet based on earlier throws from this season. Joe Lahmon, who finished second in the hammer throw on Thursday, and Aaron Merrill, the favorite in today’s shot put, are the others. Merrill, a Leetonia High graduate, placed third in the discus.

“They’re probably the hardest-working group I see around campus,” Cobey said of his throwers. “They live and die throwing, they’re in the weight room constantly and they do the things on their own that they need to do.

“All I do is show up and tell them what to do and they end up doing it. It works out real well.”

Lahmon nearly threw a personal-best on Thursday and seemed satisfied with his performance.

“You always want to get first, but I’m happy with it,” he said.

He also was happy with being able to compete on campus for the first time in four years. YSU hasn’t hosted an outdoor conference meet since it was in the Mid-Continent Conference in 2001.

“It’s nice that we don’t have to go and leave on a Wednesday, throw Thursday and Friday and get back at some odd hour,” Anderson said. “Here our parents can watch, our friends can watch, they can come and see what we do.

“Most of them have never even heard of a hammer.”

Although most event finals are today, YSU Penguins fared well in Thursday’s other finals.

Junior Shayne York won the long jump, freshman Jake Lape (Boardman) was second in the 3000-meter steeplechase and sophomore Alisha Anthony was second in the long jump.

The Penguins led in the men’s and women’s team standings after six events. The women won the indoor title in the winter.

The Penguins have won seven Horizon League championships in track and field since joining the conference in 2001-02. The women have won six of those titles since 2004 while the men’s squad captured YSU’s first Horizon League crown in any sport in 2003.

scalzo@vindy.com