Top Cat: Sophomore develops into top discus thrower

 

Sophomore discus thrower Tyler Arnholt broke his personal record and made it into Eastern's top 10 list this past week. (Kelly Crement/The Daily Eastern News)

When Eastern thrower Tyler Arnholt was a sophomore at Mattoon High School, he used the throwing portion of the track and field program as a way to stay in shape between football seasons.

Arnholt's high school football coaches recommended throwing as a way to continue to help build his strength, but little did they know Arnholt's priorities in sports would soon change.

Through working with his high school coaches, he gained experience during his underclassmen years in throwing, and soon, throwing competitions had replaced football as Arnholt's No. 1 sports interest.

Eastern track and field head coach Tom Akers recruited Arnholt, and Arnholt soon decided to attend Eastern, where he would continue his career in throwing events.

Akers said since coming to Eastern, Arnholt has improved his strength and conditioning.

"He has certainly gained a lot of strength since coming out of high school," Akers said. "He has also made major gains in some of the other events including the weight, the hammer and the shot put."

Aside from these throwing events, Arnholt prefers the outdoor track events because of the discus throwing competitions.

"The shot put is fun, but I truly prefer to throw the discus," Arnholt said. "Whenever you get everything right in the throw, it feels really smooth."

Arnholt agreed his strength has improved since coming to Eastern, which can be shown in the distances with his throws.

Arnholt's strength has been evident this season, with strong performances in both the EIU Big Blue Classic and the Memphis Invitational.

At the Big Blue Classic, Arnholt finished second in the discus with a throw of 155 feet, 11 inches, which was Arnholt's personal best.

The red-shirt sophomore then topped his personal best throw at the Memphis Invitational, with a throw of 166 feet, .06 inches in the discus.

His winning throw was good enough to rank 10th on the Eastern career list.

He admitted that after the first-place throw in Memphis, he thought that it wasn't his best throw.

"I was really excited about my performance, but when I threw it I didn't think it went very far," Arnholt said.

Despite these accomplishments, Arnholt admitted it took time and help from the Eastern coaching staff to develop into a consistent thrower.

"Once I came here as a freshman, we worked a lot with my technique," Arnholt said. "Starting off, I was really slow and hunched over coming off of the back of the ring. The EIU coaching staff got me to straighten out and come around in a fluid motion, as opposed to just rapid firing."

He said when he is focusing and getting ready for throws, he tries to clear his mind.

"When I'm competing, I don't like to think a lot because it gets me a little flustered and nervous," Arnholt said. " I try to clear my mind or focus on a particular song."


Neil Schneider can be reached at 581-7944 or at jnschneider@eiu.edu.