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Hallof’s rapid development as a thrower up for discus-sion
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Canfield sophomore Andrew Hallof practices throwing the discus at Wednesday’s practice at Canfield High School. He will compete in the event at this weekend’s Division I state track and field meet in Columbus.
By Joe Scalzo
CANFIELD
Before Andrew Hallof was a state qualifier, before he was using his discus to chip the ice off Canfield’s throwing ring before basketball practice and before people started comparing him to ex-Cardinal standout Dustin Brode, he was just a tall, skinny seventh-grader who (pardon the pun) thought he’d give throwing a shot.
“I really liked my science teacher, Mr. [Brian] Hoover and he taught shot and disc, so I thought I’d try it as something different,” Hallof said. “My first day of practice, I couldn’t throw the thing to save my life and I got real discouraged. I said, ‘Mr. Hoover, I think I’m just gonna go run’ and he said, ‘No, I want you to stay with the shot and disc. Whatever you need to learn, I’ll help. Don’t worry about that.’”
At the time, Hallof was a 6-foot, 150-pound kid with long arms and long fingers, an ideal combination in the discus. Over the next few days, Hallof started figuring it out and, by the end of his eighth-grade year, he broke Canfield’s middle school record.
Now a 6-3, 185-pound sophomore, Hallof will compete in the discus at this weekend’s Division I state meet in Columbus. He’s the lone sophomore in a 16-person field that includes 13 seniors. His regional throw of 168 feet places him sixth.
“Three weeks before the district meet, [Canfield High throwing coach Nick] Wagner goes, ‘Hey, did you know you can qualify for state?’” Hallof said. “I said no. So he says, ‘Do you want to?’ I said I’m not really sure, so he said, ‘Well, it’s [the training] going to be hell either way,’ so I said sure.
“So I went out there and put 110 percent everywhere I could and now I’m here. It’s pretty awesome.”
Four years ago, Brode capped a tremendous high school career by breaking the state’s all-division shot put record, throwing 71-71/2 in Columbus. Brode also placed second in the discus with a throw of 181-5 despite tearing his labrum weeks earlier.
While Hallof doesn’t have the build to match Brode’s shot put record — he throws in the low 40-foot range, which is solid but not elite — Wagner believes Hallof could eventually break Brode’s school discus record of 198-6.
“He’s type of kid who goes after that,” Wagner said. “And he doesn’t have perfect form yet. His finish is just so solid that it makes up for the middle and the back [of his technique], which isn’t completely polished yet.”
Hallof, who also plays football and basketball, looks more like a high jumper than a thrower and his busy schedule doesn’t leave a lot of extra time for the weight room. But while he doesn’t plan to drop his other two sports — “I think that’s what’s pulling me through this, using the other sports as a kind of balance,” Hallof said — he still made time for the discus this winter. Since Canfield’s girls basketball team practices before the boys team, Hallof often put on a hoodie and some gloves to practice his throwing, even if he had to spend several minutes chipping away the ice on the ring.
“That was awful; I did that more times than I can count,” he said. “One time, I spent an hour getting half the thing cleared out and I just gave up and started throwing powers [an abbreviated technique that focuses on the arm release] the rest of the day.”
“He sent me pictures of him chipping away the ice in the winter and I was like, ‘Dude, you’re crazy,’” Wagner said. “I said, ‘I’m not coming down. Let me know how it goes.’ ”
When asked what drives that type of devotion to the sport, Hallof said, “It’s really calming and relaxing. Not a lot of people know about it and not a lot of people respect it or know how hard it is.
“I also like that it’s on me, that I can’t blame anyone else besides myself. And Nick.”
“Oh, thanks,” Wagner said.
Brode also made his first state meet appearance as a sophomore, placing eighth in the shot put with a throw of 55-21/2 and 11th in the discus (152-1).
Hallof admitted he’s constantly comparing his throws to Brode’s sophomore marks, which is funny since not only did he never watch Brode throw in high school, “I actually didn’t know Dustin ever existed back then,” he said.
“We’ll be sure to send a copy [of this story] to him,” Wagner said, laughing.
Brode competed in the shot put at last year’s NCAA nationals — he missed qualifying this year — and is now finishing up his college career at Harvard, so it’s unlikely Hallof can match his predecessor over the long term.
But could he finish as a better high school discus thrower? Sure.
“I’ll compare myself to Dustin until my senior year,” Hallof said. “I kind of want to follow in his footsteps and do exactly what he did.”