So I am a distance guy by background and I am really having a hard time understanding why Throwers always feel like they are left out. It like they are this seperate group and they are starving for attention. I get hammered all the time when I mention “Track” and not “Track and Field”. To me its like whats the difference, all of the events are located on or around the track. Whats with this whole stress on the field. Don’t get me wrong cause I love the throwers but do they need special attention? Chime in if you feel the same way but please be respectful.
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November 22, 2011 at 3:42 pm
Anonymous
throwing and jumping are just as important as running so they should get equal attention. this website it seems to just focus on the running part
November 22, 2011 at 3:48 pm
Anonymous
the stress on the field part is because throwers get the same amount of points as distance runners. i dont know of anyone who is “starving for attention”, so i think that was a pretty rude thing to say about throwers
November 22, 2011 at 5:08 pm
dumbo
Its really simple. There are 3 jumping events including hurdles, 3 sprinting events not including hurdles, and 3 distance events. plus 2 sprint relays and the middistance relay. There is ONE throwing event. It’s just mathematics, throwers count significantly less than anyone else indoors. Outdoors it is a different story. This is a big reason BG is so good every year. They are terrible at field events, but indoors those really do not matter.
November 23, 2011 at 8:24 am
Ed McCabe
Over the last 9 years which BG Girls have won the indoor title they have benefited from very strong performances in the field events. For instance in 2010, 2nd in LJ, 2nd in HJ and 2nd in SP adds up to 24 points. They have consistently scored 20+ points in the field. Obviously there are many more events on the track during indoor track but the points from the field help in the overall team score.
November 23, 2011 at 2:47 pm
dumbo
I was talking BG boys, and I agree that jumps are important. No disrespect for throwing as there are some great throwers such as the girls you coach at BG, but indoors it is 1/13 of the meet. that is neglegible.
November 23, 2011 at 4:36 pm
nhtracktalk
Your indoor math adds up. Well done.
In the outdoor season there are four jumping events (LJ, TJ, PV, HJ). There are 7 sprinting events (100, 100/110H, 200, 300h, 400, 4 x 100, 4 x 400. There are three mid-distance events (800, 1600 and 4 x 800). There is one distance event, the 3200. As for the throws there are three (SP, DT, JT). Btw, the throwing events are more like sprints, explosive. On the Lebanon team all jumpers and throwers are sprinters.
November 22, 2011 at 6:50 pm
Mike Wright
The post doesn’t say athything about 1 event or events being more important than another. We all know that all of the events and athletes are important to a “Team”.
November 23, 2011 at 4:29 pm
nhtracktalk
I try never to refer to our sport as just track. It is track and field! The Lebanon teams like to joke that we are the field and track team. We score most of our points in the field events.
The winter season is tough on field event athletes, especially the throwers. There is only one official event, the shot put. Although, we throw the weight before each meet at Dartmouth. As a team, we set up our camp at the state meet near the throws as a way to support each other. The indoor shot area is away from where all the other events are contested so only a few people watch (except for the Dartmouth relays).
Too often in the spring, the throwing area is out side the running and jumping areas. The javelin is sometimes in another area of the facility altogether which create isolation. It can be too far for the casual fan to walk to as well. This can also be an issue in practice by having most of the team concentrated in one are and the throwers separated into a few small areas depending on the facility.
The poor coverage of our sport by the media adds to this isolation as well. Field events are rarely shown on TV unless it is the men’s shot put.
I would like to see the TV coverage err on the side of field events as opposed to watching most of the 5000 or 10000 meter race. Please do not get me wrong. I do like distance races, but the first half or more of these races are not that exciting. Unlike the last couple of laps which are often epic.
As Bill Clinton stated years ago, “I feel your pain”. Throwers are too often ignored. I do not know what is like at your school, but when I approach kids about coming out for our team, too often I hear, “I am not a runner”. Which I reply, “okay, how about jumping or throwing?’ The connotation of the word “track” implies running only and that is only part of what we do.
November 23, 2011 at 6:27 pm
Mike Wright
It would be nice to get the weight throw as part of our state meet. It really wouldn’t add any time to a meet. I always tell my throwers that I feel bad for them cause they travel every weekend to only throw for 15 min….sucks!
November 24, 2011 at 12:37 am
RealBrandonLatham
You’re so right. But, I remember once at XC camp, they had us all go into the hall to watch Rupp and Solinski try to break the national 5k record at Zurich. What was so funny about this is that NBC showed only one lap at a time, and then would cut to woman’s javelin. The entire lodge burst out in agony because we would all rather watch a men’s middistance race featuring Americans than some German woman throw shotput.
There is my random and almost relevent story of the day.
Also, If you are going to count 1600 as a middistance event, then so is the 3200. I say, by high school standards, they are both true distance, but by legitimate track&field standards, they are both middistance.
Another barely necessary comment… Bye for now.
November 27, 2011 at 1:43 pm
Freddy Pereyra
Though I agree with the last post, I’d say it really depends on who is in the race and who is throwing. The women’s javelin throw at last summer’s world championships was phenomenal…..If I had to choose between watching a nail-biting throwing competition vs. let’s say the men’s steeplechase (also at last summer’s WC), where Americans had near 0% chance of a medal or AR record, I’d choose the throwing, in a heartbeat.
Obviously, an American record attempt is a special occasion, which would change the scenario. Obviously I’d prefer to watch all races which are 10k or less in their entirety.