Champion and Pioneer in a Neglected Sport

The hammer throw is a little known and much neglected event outside of track and field circles. Many people don't realize that the hammer is not an over-sized nail-pounder, but a 16-1b metal ball attached to a long metal handle that is whirled about the head twice and let fly, usually soaring 200 feet through the air.

Crimson track tri-captain Tom Lenz, who has broken the school record twice this year, and is throwing consistently around 212 feet--par with the best college throwers in the country--has been attracting considerable attention to hammer throwing this year.

Last weekend at the GBSs Lenz threw 212 ft., 4 in. to win easily, and despite a disappointing seventh place finish at Penn Relays last week, Lenz has won his event in every Harvard outdoor meet this season.

The muscular senior with the classic Roman nose doesn't spend all his time throwing hammers. Teammates describe him as a Bob Dylan "fanatic." A chagrinned Lenz thinks the addiction must be the philosophy major surfacing in him.

Strange Looks

"I always get strange looks when people know me as an athlete and then find out I'm a philosophy major. They don't see the two things mixing very well," Lenz explains.

"My dad is a phil professor at Brown, and for a long time I didn't understand what he was doing with his life. I took Hum 5 freshman year, and I got hooked, too."

The soft-spoken senior will spend next year travelling in Europe where he plans to study "government and sports funding" on a Shaw fellowship, then return to Cambridge for three years at Harvard Law School.

Whether he will want to continue throwing the hammer after this season remains a questionmark with Lenz: "It's hard for throwers, once out of college you're really on your own; there aren't coaches, facilities, or the financial support available. I'd probably have to go out to a cornfield somewhere to practice."

Alone With No Nails

Throwing the hammer is an individual pursuit; a thrower competes against his own physical limits and previous best distances more than battling opponents.

"No matter how well you do on the first throw, you've still got five more left to go," Lenz says. "You've got to stay mentally tough. Concentration has to be intense."

Lenz started out playing football at Providence's Classical High School in the only state in the nation where the hammer throw is a high school event. Eventually his coach, one of the country's few high school hammer coaches, introduced him to throwing. "He influenced a lot of people to start throwing things," Lenz recalls with a smile.

Big and Bright

At 6 ft. 2 in. and 205 pounds, the Leverett House resident cuts a formidable figure, but not among the breed of hammer throwers, who average between 225 and 250 pounds. Lenz relies on his speed and excellent technique to overcome strength or size deficits, and often defeats much larger opponents.

While some envision the sport as monotonous and ungainly, Lenz believes the hammer as a strong aesthetic appeal: "It's a beautiful thing to see someone throw the hammer well. A good thrower is fast, strong, and graceful. It's explosive."

Lenz also sees some negative aspects about the sport. "You have to put up with being isolated to be a hammer thrower," he complains, referring to the event's being held outside the stadium during meets. "In the NCAAs, where he finished 7th overall and 3rd for Americans in 1979, "we had only 200 spectators, compared to the 15,000 watching the running."

Lenz contrasts he United States' neglect of the hammer throw with its popularity in Europe and Russia, where the hammer is a "glamorous event, "Lenz says. "In Russia everybody wants to be a hammer thrower," he adds. "Imagine if all our Mean Joe Greens decided to throw hammers instead of footballs."

Up Close Look

Lenz would like to travel to Russia for the 1980 Olympics this summer (he's against the boycott) to get a first-hand view of the Russians' different attitude toward the sport and the intense training methods.

Whether or not Lenz decides to continue throwing amidst the rigors of Law School, he will leave Harvard satisfied with having spend four enjoyable years with the track team. "Track has been the most consistent thing in my life here," says Lenz, recalling that "I must have walked over that bridge to practice a million times. I'm going to miss that."