Teams: UC Davis vs. San Francisco, California, Stanford
Where: Edwards Stadium – Berkeley, Calif.
When: Saturday; all day
Who to watch: Expect sophomore Ed Orgon to make some noise this season. After all, it’s not unusual for throwers to yell as they release. Orgon will be doing plenty of both this season.
Did you know? There are four throwing events in outdoor track and field: the shot put, the discus throw, the hammer throw and the javelin throw. Orgon will be competing in the first three on Saturday.
“The shot put is essentially a 16-pound cannon ball that we throw,” Orgon said. “Actually, by throw, it is really more of a push from your neck.
“The discus is a 2-kilogram disk. Contrary to what many people think, it is not thrown like a Frisbee but works more or less like a sling shot with your body.
“Lastly, the hammer is a 16-pound ball attached to a wire. You swing it over your head and do a series of turns and then release. It is probably the most difficult to learn, but can be very fun when you figure it out … Basically, we throw a bunch of ancient weapons for distance.”
Preview: Though some Aggies competed indoors last month, the real season begins at Berkeley on Saturday.
“Right now we want to get some quality conference marks behind us,” coach Jon Vochatzer said. “A lot of guys should be able to knock down a lot of marks getting ready for conference down the road.”
Some top prospects in that regard are sprinters Micah Grant (400m) and freshman phenom Gavin Banks (100m-200m), middle distance runners Andre Gaston (800m), Jonathan Sees (800m) and Jonathan Peterson (1,500m), and triple jumpers Tolu Wusu, Ray Green and Igor Seriba.
“I’ve been looking forward to this since I came back this fall,” Orgon said. “I’m totally stoked.”
– Alex Wolf-Root
