Welch surprises with second-place finish
Throwing the hammer requires a high degree of strength that comes with physical maturity, so freshmen typically don't make a major impact.
Continue reading the rest of "Welch surprises with second-place finish" by Athens Banner-Herald
But Georgia's Justin Welch bucked that trend when he finished second in the Southeastern Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Thursday at the Spec Towns Track.
Welch hit 224 feet, 2 inches on his final attempt to throw a scare into defending SEC and NCAA champion Walter Henning from LSU, who won with a season-best 225-4.
"After I made it into the finals, I decided to go after it," Welch said. "I was trying to go for a (personal record) and I came close. I guess I'm not too disappointed that I lost because (Henning) is a defending national champion, so he's been up there before."
The SEC meet continues today with the women's hammer throw starting at 10 a.m. at the Sec Towns Track.
Welch, a 6-foot-1 freshman from Luckey, Ohio, competed in the first SEC meet of his career, took a brief lead when his second throw went 217-5 to eclipse Henning's 214-7. But the senior Henning responded and hit 224-6 on his third attempt and the best Welch could muster was his final attempt of 224-2.
"Justin is a great competitor," Georgia throwing coach Don Babbitt said. "He had his best throw on his last and almost won it. The guy who won here is a defending NCAA champion and he's had kind of having a bad year. I think what Justin did was wake him up."
Freshmen don't often excel in strength events like the hammer throw because they have not spent as many years in serious weight training as their older competitors. Most high school associations don't sanction the hammer throw, and if they do, they use lighter weights.
"There's not a lot of quick turnover between high school and college because you're going up four pounds in the hammer.
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