Dueling in the Discus

Joshua Hoffman competes in the East Prelims of the NCAAs on Friday.

5/26/2022 1:19:00 PM | Men's Track & Field, Women's Track & Field, UNH Insider

Campbell's Hoffman, Another UNH Record Holder, Heads to NCAA Prelims

By: Allen Lessels

By Allen Lessels
UNH Insider

Throwing the discus, says Robert Hoppler, the director of track & field and cross country at the University of New Hampshire, is not an easy endeavor.

Joshua Hoffman, a UNH sophomore and computer science major from Litchfield, N.H. and Campbell High School, appears to be meeting the challenge of spinning in a circle and chucking the plate-like implement that weighs about 4.5 pounds.

Hoffman broke UNH's school record with a toss of 179 feet, 1 inch at the America East Outdoor Track & Field Championships on May 8.

The next week he came back and shattered that mark with a throw of 185 feet, 3 inches at the New England Championships, qualifying him for a spot in the NCAAs.

Friday afternoon, Hoffman steps up a level in competition again and competes in the East Preliminary Round of the NCAA Championships at Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind.

Hoffman is seeded No. 30 in the field of 48 qualifiers in the East. Each athlete will get three throws and the top 12 finishers will advance to the NCAA Championships to be held June 8-11 at the University of Oregon in Eugene.

"My goal is to take it all in and learn how to compete on a higher level," Hoffman said on Wednesday from Bloomington before heading out to practice. "I want to get used to competing at a high level for my later years at UNH. I'll just take it all in and do my best. I can't really put a distance on it."

Hoffman did track for fun in middle school and started specializing in throwing events as a freshman at Campbell and learned the ropes from Jarod Mills, the former throwing coach at the school.

Recruited to UNH by legendary head coach Jim Boulanger who retired last spring, Hoffman got to campus well-schooled in the event, said Hoppler and assistant coach Cullen Aubin, who works with the Wildcat throwers.

"He was already on his way," Aubin said.

"Last year, he was showing some things that were impressive and it was a little eye-opening," Hoppler said. "It was like, 'this kid is good.'"

After a strong summer of training and working in the weight room, Hoffman came back to UNH in the fall even better.

He threw well in the fall, but the discus is only competed in outdoor track in the spring, so he had to wait for the true competition in the event.

"By the end of the season he put himself at a different level and obviously by the time he got to New Englands he really took a big step by winning the championship with that record," Hoppler said. "He and Coach Aubin put a program in place and Josh has executed it over time to put himself in this position. It's not a light switch type of thing. It's really been a two-year process."

"The discus is the most difficult of the implements to throw between hammer, shot and javelin," Hoppler said.

"It's extremely difficult to get the discus to fly through the air for long distances," he said. "It will go sideways, drop to the ground, fly crooked. You have to be strong for sure to throw it far, but having good balance is very, very important, and so is having good feet. You have to be as explosive as possible, but then stay within the circle. You're limited to a very small area and you have to be in control or you'll foul. It's a combination of explosiveness and control and it's hard to balance those things."

Hoffman has become a student of technique, Aubin said.

"You can't muscle the discus," Aubin said. "You can muscle the shot and the indoor weight, but not the discus. You try to muscle the discus and things go bad. It's a pretty finicky event."

Hoffman is 6-foot-1 and 235 pounds and one of his goals for the summer is to get stronger, with the help of UNH strength and conditioning coach Austin Bartosh.

He has very long arms – with a wing span of 6-foot-8 or 6-foot-9, which is longer than average for his height by several inches – and that's a plus.

"I find it very fun," Hoffman said. "It's an interesting event. You're trying to find power and length. It's kind of a unique feeling. It's definitely about finesse. It's all about keeping the discus as long as you can, reaching your arm out as far as you can and keeping it far away. You want the orbit of the discus around your body as long as possible to give you more space to apply force to it."

Friday, he'll look to apply that force again and see where it takes him.

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A RECORD SETTING YEAR

Hoffman joined a line of school record setters this year. The discus mark he broke was 173 feet, 1 inch and was set by Reed Liset in 2007.

Between the indoor and outdoor track seasons, the Wildcats – led by Hoppler and his assistants Casey Carroll, Anna Magle-Haberek and Aubin - set records in eight events.

"We had amazing seasons as far as breaking records," Hoppler said. "The thing I'm most happy about is we did it across the spectrum of track and field. We had records in the hurdles, jumps, throwing and running events. We broke records in every aspect of track and field. That's a testament to the coaching staff and particularly the two young coaches we have. Anna and Cullen made immediate and big impacts."

In several cases, the record setters broke their own marks more than once during the course of the season.

When the indoor season ended, senior Kevin McGrath owned the school record at 6 feet, 10.75 inches in the high jump, senior Sarah Williams (Dover, N.H.) had the top mark of 61 feet, 7.50 inches in the weight throw and freshman Olivia Chamberlain had a school-best 18 feet, seven inches in the long jump.

In addition, sophomore Elizabeth Martell set a record in the 500 meter run at 1 minute, 14:03 in the 500 meter run and the 4x800 relay team of senior Nicole Yeomans, sophomore Hannah Langstaff, junior Cailey Archer and Martell established a mark of 8:54.87.

Besides Hoffman's new discus mark in the spring, senior Michael Monahan now owns the 110 high hurdle record at 14.44 seconds.

Junior Meline Almasian tied the women's long jump mark of 18 feet, eight inches in the spring and Chamberlain then broke it with a leap of 18 feet, 8.75 inches in a meet at UMass Lowell on April 23.

As an added bonus, all the record setters have at last a season of eligibility remaining, some because they get a year back because of losing one to COVID-19.