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June 6, 2009

After three years in back of pack, SHSU’s Tipton is one of country’s top discus throwers

By Cody Stark The Huntsville Item Sat Jun 06, 2009, 10:00 PM CDT

Sam Houston State discus thrower Jon Tipton was kind of an unknown heading into his senior year.

The best he had ever finished at the Southland Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships was fourth in 2008 and his personal-best throw was 180 feet, 2 inches. But Tipton knew he had so much more in him and set out to prove that he was one of the top throwers in the country.

Well, he has done it and then some. The Wichita Falls Rider product became the third Bearkat in school history to win gold at the NCAA Midwest Regional meet last weekend in Norman, Okla., with a toss of 192-3 on his first attempt.

Tipton has gone from the guy the Bearkats were just hoping to get some points from in the past to the leader of the pack as he and four other Sam Houston State student-athletes gear up for the NCAA Outdoor Championships on Wednesday through Saturday in Fayetteville, Ark.

“I’m just honored to go because it is the best stage in NCAA competition,” Tipton said. “I’m going to be competing against the defending national champion (Rashaud Scott of Kentucky) and I’m honored to be on the same stage as him. If I can bring back a gold medal that would be sweet.”

Tipton not only brings regional gold into the national meet, but he also has the seventh-best discus throw in the country this spring. After winning the SLC title, he went to a “Last Chance” meet at Northwestern State on May 16 and uncorked a throw of 196-6.

That throw also helped Tipton qualify for the United States Outdoor Track and Field Championships, which will be held June 25-28 at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field.

So, what has been the difference for Tipton this season? Maybe it has something to do with new throwing coach Andy Fryman, who was an All-America thrower at the University of Kentucky.

“I think coach (Curtis) Collier set a good foundation, but he couldn’t do the advance and technical coaching that I needed,” Tipton said. “He brought in coach Fryman, who was a 193-foot discus thrower and 215-foot hammer thrower and a 63-foot shot putter. He came and was able to teach us the little stuff.

“I matured a little bit, learned how to compete and stayed healthy this year, which was a big thing.”

When Fryman got to Sam Houston, he saw the raw talent that Tipton possessed and knew that with a few adjustments, he could help the senior reach his potential.

Fryman polished the rough edges and now has Tipton in prime position to become the first Bearkat to ever medal at the NCAA championships.

“When I first got here, I saw that Jon had some technical differences that needed to be corrected, some of the things I saw that he didn’t need to be doing and things he needed to be doing,” Fryman said. “We fixed a few things, and to be honest, I guessed on a few things and we have been right so far.

“I think it got to the point that people looked at Jon after his first couple of years of college as not necessarily going to be the guy that achieved at the national level. But in his heart, he still wanted to be there,” the coach added. “You could tell he had the desire to be good, and what helped him was having a (coach) here that had been to nationals.”

Tipton knows he has more in him. He’ll be the first to tell you he wasn’t in a comfort zone when he shattered the school record at Northwestern State. Fryman and Tipton also know that his performance at the Midwest Regional was subpar.

So if he can put it all together and advance out of the qualifying round Thursday afternoon, Tipton believes he has a shot in the finals.

“I’m looking forward to just competing in the finals,” Tipton said. “I think that if I make it to the finals, then I have a shot at winning it.”

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