by Jimmy Johnson
To lose and win at the same time is not an
option most schools have. The Kutztown University men’s track and
field team is one of the lucky few.
With Jim Dart transferring back to KU for this
season, the Golden Bears — who also boast six-time Pennsylvania
State Athletic Conference Champion Steve Tyson — have two of the
best athletes in the shot put in Division II.
All throughout the indoor season, Dart and
Tyson traded first-place finishes, giving KU six titles in the shot
put this year. Together, the two will compete at the NCAA Division
II Indoor Track and Field Championships on March 15 at the
University of Minnesota State-Mankato.
Tyson, a senior from Bridgeport, Pa., won the
latest friendly contest, winning the PSAC title in the shot put on
March 1 with a throw of 54-10. Dart was second with his toss of
54-0.
“If you’re going to lose, and it’s to someone
on your own team, that’s the way to go,” Dart said.
And that’s the way it’s been.
Dart, a senior from Havertown, Pa., opened the
season with first-place finishes in three straight invitationals
before Tyson won the next two.
“It’s a healthy competition,” Tyson said. “It’s
really, really exciting that’s he’s on the team. It’s pretty much
Jim and I in the shot put.”
Dart nearly won again a few weeks later,
placing second while setting the new school record with a throw of
55-1 at the Susquehanna University Open. He broke his own record of
54-2, which he set earlier in the season.
“It was probably the most exciting meet I’ve
ever been to in my career,” Dart said of the Susquehanna Open. “I
had a couple buddies throwing unattached. There were like six people
within two feet of the same mark. It was anybody’s game.”
But Dart composed himself on his last throw and
launched his school-record-breaking toss.
“It was just electrifying,” he said, adding in
a jokingly manner, “There was probably an unnecessary amount of
yelling going on at the meet, but it was just really invigorating,
and I just put it together. My last throw was pretty cool.”
The 2008 season, as a whole, has been
electrifying for Dart. It’s even more impressive considering that
three years ago, Dart could not have imagined himself breaking
records and winning tournament titles while wearing maroon and gold.
Dart left KU after his freshman year to
transfer to Shippensburg to pursue a different academic major that
was not available at KU. But after some time at Shippensburg, he
realized the major was not for him. So he packed up and transferred
back to KU last year.
However, because of NCAA standards, he had to
sit out a full season.
That meant he had 365 days of sitting, waiting
and wondering. He couldn’t compete. He couldn’t practice with the
team. All he could do was train on his own and await the start of
the 2008 season.
“It was hard to stay motivated with my throws,”
he said.
Meanwhile, Tyson won seven shot put events,
including both the indoor and outdoor PSAC titles — he now has won
four straight and six overall.
“It’s really exciting to win it four times in a
row,” Tyson said.
He will look to make it seven in the upcoming
outdoor season, but he surely will be tested by Dart, who has big
goals set. Dart said that he knows he can set the school record
again with a throw of 58 feet. If he does, he will be set up nicely
for his post-KU career.
Dart plans to compete next year unattached and
begin training for the Olympic trials in 2012.
“Hopefully, with any luck and hard training, in
2012, I’m going to try and make the Olympic trials, which is 61
feet,” he said. “I think I can definitely do it.”
And he won’t have to beat Tyson to do it. He
doesn’t have to beat anyone — other than himself.
“The thing with throws is, it’s not you against
somebody; it’s not one team versus another team; it’s you against
yourself,” he said. “All the time, all the effort, the hours, the
bloodshed and tears — and there’s a little bit of them — it’s more
or less the competition spurs you on. But it’s more of an inner
struggle to put everything together in that one instance, and when
you do it, it just completely pays off after months and years of
hard work. It’s an indescribable feeling.”
But before Dart can worry about all that, he
and Tyson have business to take care of at nationals.
Both athletes are vying for All-America status,
and in order to do that, they’ll need to place in the top eight.
Heading into Saturday’s shot put event, Dart and Tyson are seeded
ninth and 10th, according to their throws this season.
Tyson acknowledged the fact that both he and
Dart would have to break their personal records to finish in the top
eight.
“We need to pop out the throw of our lifetime,”
Tyson said.
Even if they do not manage to place in the top
eight, just qualifying for nationals is an accomplishment worth
recognizing. It’s a win-lose situation, something Tyson and Dart
have become all too familiar with.
