Youngstown State senior thrower on course for major summer of competition

April 9, 2016 at 12:10a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

Recently, Conner Neu picked up on what Youngstown State track and field coach Brian Gorby often says about him — “He basically lives track 24/7” — and did some thinking.

“I kind of thought about what he meant when he said that,” said Neu, YSU’s record-breaking senior thrower. “It’s one thing to show up for practice and participate in track and do that day-to-day stuff. But that’s only gonna take you so far.

“What I came to realize in college is that if you want to be good at it, it has to be your life,” Neu said. “So when it comes to my work ethic, I’m thinking about track 24/7 — when I’m in class, when I’m at home. Everything I do, I do with the intention of getting better at track.”

That explains why Neu is one of the best in the entire country.

In YSU’s first spring meet last weekend at the Slippery Rock Dave Labor Invitational, Neu — fresh off of a winter season in which he earned All-American honors in the weight throw — tossed a school record-breaking hammer throw of 70.96 meters. That mark ranks second in the nation collegiality and ninth in the U.S. with professionals included.

Even more, the mark punches his ticket to the NCAA Outdoor National Championships in June and more than likely qualifies him for the Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore., in early July. There, he could earn one of three spots on the USA Olympic Team for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio.

“Right now it’s more or less training and making sure I’m good for these next couple months,” Neu said. “Everything right now, I don’t want to say it’s less important, but everything leading up to Trials is a stepping stone.”

CHANGE OF PLANS

Originally, Neu wasn’t supposed to be breaking records and sitting atop the national leaderboards for the Penguins. All this was meant to happen as a Kentucky Wildcat.

But after joining UK out of Midpark High (Brook Park) in 2012 and spending one season with the Wildcats, Neu transferred to YSU.

His reasoning?

The Kentucky coach who recruited him out of Midpark left before he got there and he was about to start his second season with another new coach. So instead, he opted for familiarity in YSU throwing coach Brent Shelby, who joined Pittsburgh prior to this season but worked with Neu back in high school.

“It just wasn’t what I expected during the recruitment, so I decided to transfer,” said Neu, who competed for Kentucky for a full freshman season. “I really trusted [Shelby’s] methods, so I decided to go here for him.”

When he got to YSU, Neu immediately won the 2014 indoor conference weight throw championship. He then finished 15th in the nation at the 2014 Outdoor Nationals — good for Second-Team All-American honors — before winning conference championships at the 2015 indoor and outdoors.

That only preceded his stellar 2016 indoor season in which he became just the third First-Team All-American in YSU history.

“From Day 1 here, he’s had the passion of living it 24/7,” Gorby said. “He’ll probably tell you that he’s going to school to throw the hammer and not the other way around — not to mean that he’s not doing well in school, he’s about to get his degree and has a 3.5 GPA. But his passion, when most people put in 20 hours a weeks, he puts in 40-60 hours.”

NEEDED BOOST

Neu didn’t have the 2015 junior season he wanted to — battling back injuries as he failed to reclaim his All-American status from the season before. Then, the reason he came to the Penguins (Coach Shelby) left for Pitt.

But suddenly, everything got better with the arrival of new throwing coach Tyler Lippert, who worked with track and field powerhouse Arkansas for the 2014-15 season as a graduate assistant.

“If it wasn’t for Coach Lippert, I definitely wouldn’t be where I’m at right now,” Neu said. “Sometimes it’s good to have a fresh pair of eyes when it comes to training, technique and bringing new ideas and new philosophies. And everything he brought in was something I wasn’t used to — but at the same time — everything clicked really well.”

A young guy himself — Lippert earned his Bachelor’s Degree from Western Illinois in 2013 — Gorby sees a perfect match in the coach and All-American thrower.

“When we hired [Lippert], we felt really fortunate to get him,” Gorby said. “He’s really strong in the hammer. [He] and Connor just gelled really well together since they both have great passion for the sport.”

Added Neu: “He understands what makes me good. So I listen to everything he tells me to do and it’s worked wonders so far.”

WHAT LIES AHEAD

From the outset of his monumental day, Neu didn’t like how things were adding up last weekend at Slippery Rock.

“It’s funny because I thought things were going really wrong,” said Neu, who also placed first in the discus throw and was named Horizon League Field Athlete of the Week. “The weather was terrible — 40 mph winds, the wind chill was somewhere in the 30s – but I guess I was just really ready for the first meet. I think that excitement trumped the weather conditions and helped me have a good day.”

More like a great day.

His 70.96-meter hammer throw broke his old school-record of 66.19 meters, placed him first for the entire eastern side of the country (Florida’s Anders Eriksson is second at 70.46m) and second in the entire nation only to Minnesota’s Sean Donnelly (74.34 meters).

“It makes you proud when you see Georgia, Florida, LSU right behind him — all these big powerhouse conference schools and then YSU’s up on top,” Gorby said. “Connor put himself in a different atmosphere. He has a chance to truly bring home a Division I National Championship for YSU.”

It would be the first in program history. And it could happen on June 8-11 at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field, the same place where Neu — aka the Penguin thrower who eats, sleeps and breathes his craft 24 hours a day, seven days a week — may very well capture his Olympic dream in early July.

“I’m definitely looking forward to Trials,” said Neu, who will compete with the nations top 16 hammer throwers, professionals included, should his 70.96 mark (currently ninth) hold strong. “Obviously there’s more immediate things that are gonna come up, like conference and nationals. But I think that the focus is definitely going to be on having a stellar performance at Trials.”