Pfleger tosses personal best in weight throw

Sophomore Destin Heasley gets set and waits for the shotgun in the 400-meter run. Heasley ran the event in 49.46 seconds, finishing in third place. Rachel Kilroy | Daily Kent Stater

Credit: DKS Editors

Entering Friday’s track and field meet, the Kent State athletes and coaches didn’t expect much due to heavy training, but surprisingly the throwers dominated.

The men’s team defeated Youngstown State 83-64. The women defeated both Youngstown State and Ohio, but lost to Miami.

“I saw a lot of good things happen,” Kent State coach Bill Lawson said. “Since we’re still moving people around I’m very pleased.”

In both throwing events against Youngstown State, the Kent State men had the first- and second-place finishers.

One of the flourishing athletes for the men was sophomore thrower Matt Pfleger. He placed first in the weight throw, tossing a personal-best of 64 feet, 2 1/4 inches. Pfleger was very pleased with his results.

INFOBOX MEET RESULTS Kent State duel meets First place finishers Women Freshman Audrey Maheu – 1-mile run (4 minutes, 56.56 seconds) Junior Jessica Lhotsky – 800-meter run (2:10.36) Sophomore Kim Preston – pole vault (11 feet, 5 3/4 inches) Senior LeVania Henderson – shot put (51-11 1/4), weight throw (62-3) Men Junior Stephen Thompson – 60-meter dash (6.97) Junior Curtis Eaton – 200-meter dash (22.08) Sophomore Scott Hilditch – 800-meter run (1:55.07) 4×400-meter relay team of Freshman Princeton Bryson, Sophomore Matt Moffett, Sophomore Destin Heasley and Eaton (3:16.39) Freshman Dean Wood – high jump (6-8 3/4) Freshman Derek Hopkins – pole vault (15-7) Sophomore Andrew Linebarger – long jump (22-10) Junior Anthony Connor – shot put (53-11 1/4) Sophomore Matt Pfleger – weight throw (64-2 1/4)

“I would have been happy with a 60-foot throw, but I’ll take the 64,” Pfleger said.

Going into the event, Pfleger said he thought he was going to throw about 60 feet – his best throw from the previous season was only about 55 feet. Throwing coach Nathan Fanger said Pfleger is improving his distances greatly and quickly.

The 64-foot throw crushed Pfleger’s opponents. The next closest competitor was Kent State junior thrower Anthony Connor, who threw 60-2.

“I didn’t expect that,” Pfleger said. “I think I can go a little further, but my cycle is a little bit heavy right now.”

Since his training is tougher right now, both Pfleger and Fanger know there is room for improvement. Fanger is optimistic about the results Pfleger is going to have in the future.

“He’s still got another foot or two left in the tank when we freshen him up,” Fanger said. “He’s nowhere near as fresh as he should be.”

Although Pfleger wasn’t throwing at his full potential, his throw still helped him provisionally qualify for the 2009 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships.

While Pfleger and Connor placed one-two in the weight throw, the results flipped for the shot put. Connor placed first, with a toss of 53-11 1/4, and Pfleger was second with a throw of 52-10 1/4.

“I can’t believe I actually did that,” Connor said. “We had a lot of heavy training so those results were amazing.”

The throwers did great, Fanger said, and he hopes to keep these results up because he knows that it is key to the overall success of the track and field team.

“My job to make them as strong as they can be, and be a staple for the Kent State track and field team,” Fanger said.

Contact sports correspondent Cody Erbacher at [email protected].