April 24, 2009
By: Danielle Johnson
Two Western State track and field athletes have literally thrown themselves into the school record books this season.
Sophomore Ryan Walstrom and Senior Ashley Stephens both took first place in the discus at the CSU-Pueblo Invitational at the beginning of April and set new WSC all-time records in the process. Now the Mountaineers are looking for that to propel them at the NCAA Div. II National Championships in May.
Walstrom broke his personal record by more than 30 feet and set a new record for men’s track and field at WSC with a throw of 184.28 feet. Walstrom qualified for Nationals and is currently ranked second in the nation.
Representing WSC women’s track and field, Stephens is currently ranked first in the nation in discus throw and fourth in the hammer toss. She broke her own personal record by tossing the discus a long 176.84 feet.
Stephens won the National Championship in 2007 in discus and will have another opportunity to take first place at this year’s Division II National Championships in San Angelo, Texas.
First season coach Michael Gusbeth is training with Walstrom and Stephens three to four days a week to prepare for the title run.
“Ryan is a pretty good sized physical specimen and he came in his freshman year and really took it on,” said Gusbeth. “He is getting better all the time.”
His sentiments are shared for Stephens, saying, “Ashley has really progressed well over the year and she has already won nationals once and she has made it to nationals this year.”
Coach Gusbeth has great confidence that Stephens can win nationals in both the discus and hammer throw events.
A positive year for Walstrom has boosted his self-confidence.
“This year has gone very well for me,” he said. “I haven’t had any downfalls and I’m only going to go up from here.” Walstrom said that his goal at nationals is to represent the team and the school by doing the best he can.
“Lift hard and train hard,” are the words coach Gusbeth used to describe the preparation and strategy for Walstrom and Stephens.
“Basically, their diet is to remain healthy, eat well and rest well,” Gusbeth said. “It is constant work training for nationals. We have three to four training sessions a week for technique and we lift three days a week. They need to be ready to throw consistently.”
“We have about a month to train and prepare before nationals,” added Walstrom. “We will just have longer training sessions and hit the weight room really hard.”
Walstrom expanded that he will prepare mentally by going into the event knowing he will do his best. Whatever the outcome, Walstrom said being amongst a bunch of great throwers is an honor.
Stephens has equal aspirations and is carrying plenty of momentum after being named the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference’s Athlete of the Week for the second consecutive week on April 6.
“I feel pretty good about this whole season,” Stephens said. “I’ve been really consistent this year and hopefully I’ll be able to win Nationals again.”
With record breaking throws recently, Stephens said she is ready to take on Nationals just like a normal meet.
“I’m not going to psych myself up about it,” she said. “I just hope to have the same type of performance that I have had lately.”
The Div. II Outdoor National Championships in San Angelo, Texas, will take place on May 21-23. Walstrom and Stephens will be competing, both looking to set new personal records and write another page into their storied careers.
Western State Writers Spring 2009 