Long Beach State throwers hammering the competition

To the casual track and field fan, the track side of the sport gets a lot of the attention compared to the field events. But over the past few years at Long Beach State, it’s the field events, highlighted by the throwing team, that has been most consistent on a very talented program.

Long Beach throws coach Cory Loebl is in his 10th year with the program and his athletes have dominated the Big West Conference during his tenure. Since Loebl took over, LBSU has led the Big West in individual titles and top-three performances in men’s and women’s throws combined. He says that it’s the culture that his athletes have built that has contributed to the success.

“It comes from the athletes,” he said. “We’ve always had kids that are willing to do anything to get better. That’s the culture that they live by.”

Senior Kody Robison believes Loebl is the mastermind behind all of the team’s success.

“He knows how to build athletes from the ground up,” Robison said. “He’ll always get you going in the right direction and if you trust the process, he’ll get you there.”

Loebl has coached 10 NCAA national qualifiers and recently added two more to that list. Junior Robert Marlow and senior Fatima Vergara qualified for nationals in the men’s and women’s hammer throw at the NCAA West preliminary championships in Kansas. Marlow and Vergara are not the biggest or most experienced throwers, but Loebl has a knack for recruiting underrated and technical athletes that have high ceilings.

“I just give them the tools that are needed to succeed,” Loebl said. “Their willingness to put in the work makes my job easy.”

The hammer throw is a technical event that requires the right combination of strength, speed and balance, and with the help of Loebl, Marlow and Vergara have everything clicking at the right time. Their technique and attention to detail have given them a chance at individual national championships this season.

Vergara began her college career at Riverside City College, where the discus was her best event. She was the state champion in 2013. But after coming to Long Beach State in 2014, her best event has been the hammer throw, where she’s a two-time Big West champion.

She’s qualified for the NCAA West preliminaries twice, but she saved her best marks for the prelims, where she needed it most. The top 12 qualify for the national championships and on her final attempt of the day, she unleashed a 199-foot, 8-inch throw, breaking a seven-year old school record to qualify in 12th place.

“When I let it go I didn’t realize I had broke the record. I just tried to throw my best,” she said. “It was one of my goals, so it was a really great surprise.”

Vergara had lifetime best throws twice at the meet and became the first 49er ever to qualify for the NCAA Championships in the women’s hammer.

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“I’m hoping to make my record a little more difficult to beat,” she said about the upcoming national championships. “I’m just going to smile and wave and make it memorable.”

For teammate Marlow, the national championship is not only a chance for him to compete on the biggest stage, it’s also a chance for him to gain more experience and improve on an already impressive young career. Marlow didn’t touch a hammer until college, so he still has some room to grow.

“He’s still developing, but he found his knack,” Loebl said. “He’s a student of the sport and wants to be good.”

Marlow didn’t have the greatest marks out of Ventura High School and didn’t even know if he was going to be on the track and field team when he enrolled at Long Beach. But he made the right decision when he picked up the hammer as a freshman.

“I wanted to ea my spot and be a part of something,” he said. “I didn’t think I would be where I’m at today, but we work hard in this program. We want it and we want it more than the next person.”

At the preliminaries, Marlow placed 10th overall with a second-attempt throw of 207-03. His lifetime best is 215-02, which won him the USC Trojan Invitational this year. The mark was third-best in program history, sixth-best in the West and 25th-best in the country this year.

“I’m looking forward to the competition,” he said. “I want to get out there and do my best to represent the black and gold.”

The championships begin Wednesday Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.

Then, the rest of the nation will get the opportunity to see what has made the LBSU throws program so good for so long.