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Spinning into the record book By DON HUNT By almost everyone's standards, Scott Myers was a big success at last season's Class 4A state track meet. The North Medford High standout launched the discus a lifetime best of 170 feet, 10 inches on his final throw and seemingly had the event won, only to watch Jake Zeliff of Grants Pass nudged past him on the final throw of the competition. Later in the meet, Myers stepped into the shot put ring and also emerged with a second-place showing. Myers was showered with compliments and the proverbial pats on the back from coaches and teammates alike, but the 6-foot, 245-pound mass of muscle went home disappointed. "That might have been the best thing that ever happened to me," Myers says. "All that did was motivate me." Myers lifted weights all summer, attended a thrower's camp at Eastern Washington University in Cheney and began training in earnest in January, a couple weeks after helping North Medford to a runner-up finish in the state football playoffs. "Another second," Myers says in reference to the football team. "I'm realizing how difficult it is to be a state champion, but in track I control my own destiny." And roughly one month into the track season, Myers is controlling the competition. He sent shock waves across the state - not to mention the turf at North Medford High - when he launched the shot put 62 feet, 11 inches during a dual meet against Crater April 17. The mammoth throw was the fifth-best in state history, tying him with former Roseburg High star Heath Howington. It broke the all-time Black Tornado record of 60-93/4, set by Randy Settell in 1983. And it stands as the sixth-best mark in the nation this season by a high school shot-putter. Myers has been almost as impressive in the discus. He tossed that implement 180-1 at the Crater Classic last Saturday for another school record and state-leading mark. "I've got the best marks in the state right now but I'm taking nothing for granted," Myers says. "I know I've got longer throws in me." Myers' vast improvement in the shot put - his top throw coming into this season was 57-4 - can be attributed in large part to his conversion from the glide technique to the spin technique. The spin is widely used by college and world-class throwers but is difficult to learn and even more difficult to perfect. Myers began using it after attending the thrower's camp at Eastern Washington. "A bunch of guys there were using it and it looked like fun," says Myers, who worked with former Olympian Brian Oldfield at the clinic. "The first time I tried it I threw 48 feet. I knew right then I wanted to change." Myers was so busy with football during the fall that he rarely had time to work on the shot. But he threw 55 feet in practice in January and it wasn't long before he was almost effortlessly reaching lifetime bests. Still, the 62-11 toss was a bit surprising. After all, it was a personal record by a whopping 5 feet. "You never expect a PR by that much but it wasn't a complete shock," North Medford throwing coach Mike Schaan says. "Our approach is to focus on technique rather than distance, because one ultimately takes care of the other. "His technique kept getting better and better and then, boom, he popped the big one." Myers has thrown 60-3 and 62-21/2 in the two meets since his record-breaking toss, and along the way he established another PR in the discus. The consistency pleases Schaan. "That's something we talk about - being prepared for each event each time out," Schaan says. "So much of being a good, consistent thrower is the mental preparation, and Scott has come a long way in that area this year. He's very level-headed." The spin technique seems to be tailor-made for Myers. It requires more agility and athleticism than it does brute force, and Myers, who isn't particularly big for a shot-putter, possesses both. "The rotation is similar to dancing," Schaan says. "You need good rhythm and timing. The glide is essentially brute force, while the spin is more finesse." The progression to the spin was easier for Myers since he also spins in the discus. However, spinning in the shot put ring is more difficult because its diameter measures just 7 feet, compared to 8-feet, 2-inches in the discus. "You definitely need to be more compact in the shot put ring," Myers says, "and the release points are different. "There is so much more to learn." Just how far can Myers heave the iron ball and the platter this spring? Are the all-time state marks of 67-11 in the shot by South Eugene's Chris Sprague and 197-11 in the discus by Sprague's Brent Patera safe? The way Myers is throwing, no record is safe. Reach reporter Don Hunt at 776-4469, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.