1994_04 The Daily Collegian April 1994

              'Friday, April 8,1994
THECOLLEGIAN
Riech ranks among the
world's best in the javelin
By Brian Fiaher
THE COLLEGIAN
To have an idea of what kind of
success Todd Riech has 'experi¬
enced as an athlete, you may hot
have to look further than his high
school exploits.
In both his junior and senior
years at Hot Springs high school in
Montana,Riech won the state meet
team titles' - by himself, including
victories in the 100, 200, 400
hurdles and javelin as a junior. In
addition to those titles, as a senior
he also won the 300 hurdles. He
appeared in Sports Illustrated's
Face In the Crowd, and in 1989, his
senior year, he was named the
Mo ntana Track Athlete ofthe Year.
But fee all the success in the differ¬
ent events, it seemed as though the
javelin came naturally to him. Not bad
considering he didn't even begin to
throw it until his sophomore year.
"I was at track practice one day and
I picked up the javelin," Riech said. "I
think I threw it about 180 feet"
Hot Springs only had about 500
residents, and'just 73 attended his
highschool. With the exception of
basketball, team sports were more
difficult to participate in, and a lot
of attention was focused on indi¬
vidual sports.
Although Riech was a pretty
good basketball player he was for¬
tunate this was the case.
He was recruited by many ofthe
country's major colleges.
"I'd say in al 11 was contacted by
some 200 schools," Riech said.
"Fresno State, Texas, Tennessee,
USC, UCLA, Oregon-I heard from
just about everybody.'*
However, with the exception of
Fresno State, all the schools seemed
to be lacking what Riech was really
looking for.
"I didn't want to get lost in the
shuffle. T was pretty shy and com¬
ing from the population and'
enviroment I came from I wasn't
about.to get thrown into an over¬
whelming situation,'' Riech said.
"When I came on my [recruiting]
Senior Todd Reich has already recorded the
the world thtai year In the Javelin,
hip here coach [Red] Estes was up
front and fair with me. I felt tike I
was home."
It showed too. As a freshman,
Riech won the Big West title with a
toss of 216-8 and shortly after be¬
came the second best all-time jav¬
elin thrower with a throw of 222-9.
Heading into his sophomore sea¬
son Riech decided that he no longer
wanted to compete as adecathalete,
which he had great success in his
freshman season, but wanted to fo¬
cus just on the javelin. It was a
beneficial move as he topped 220
feet three times and won eight of
the eleven meets he competed in.
He ended the year on a high by
placing fourth in the NCAA's.
As a junior in 1992, Reich com¬
peted in aympk; trials wherehe placed
1 lth in a field that only had three
collegiates. He fefc confide* because
no one expected him to do anything.
"I had nothing to lose," Riech
said. "Nobody really knew who I
was so there wasn't a bit of pres¬
sure on me."
In the regular season he earned
his second straight all-American
honors and again finished fourth in
the NCAA's. He also became
FSU's all-time leader when he
threw 244-10 against UC Irvine
and San Diego State.
Sports information/File Photo
Im ninth best throw in
After redshirting last season
because of an injured back, be
worked hard in the off season to get
back to bis championship form.
And that hard work is evident as he
has won both meets he's competed
in thus far. In the first meet of the
year, Riech shattered his own school
record with a throw that currently
stands as the farthest in the United
States in 1994.
'T m pleased with my recovery,
and leave a lot of people to thank
for it," Riech said. "I'd like to
thank God for giving me the
strength and preserverence to come
back, and my many coaches and
trainers for all of their hard work
and dedication on my behalf."
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OLYMPIANS, from page 6
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champion and in 1993, owned the
eighth fastest time in the world
(13.26).   U
I Darren Plab, high jump:
member ofthe 1992 U.S. Olympic
team in the high jump. Plab, who
currently resides in Fresno, had two
top finishes in NCAA's at So. Illi¬
nois.
The Bob Mathias Fresno relays
will also feature top Fresno State
track athletes competing at the meet:
Todd Reich, javelin: The
two-time All American and third-
place NCAA finisher in the javelin
had a throw of 257-8 at the FSU
All-Comers meet March 5, which
is the longest in the world this year
and stands as the 9th best in Ameri¬
can history.
Tanya Dooley, 400
meters: Dooley, a three-time All-
American in the 400 meters, fin¬
ished third at the 1994 NCAA In¬
door Championships in February.
The senior holds the FSU record in
the 400 with a time of 52.83. She
will anchor on the 4x100 relay team
and will also compete on the 4x400
team which holds the meet record
at 3:41.18. /
Robert Foster, long jump,
and 110 high hurdles: Foster was
the NCAA indoor champion in the
55 hurdles with a WAC-record time
of 7.16. The versatile senior has
won WAC championships in the
55 and 110 hurdles, as well as the
long jump.
Many of the athletes train in
Fresno due to the consistently de¬
pendable weather, excellent facili¬
ties and the level of athletes this
area draws, making for great train¬
ing conditions.
"Right now I aft working very
hard toward the Olympics in '96,"
said Plab.
"It takes a lot of natural ability
and strength to compete out here. It
is now that I am just beginning to
learn how to mentally prepare and
focus on my e vent.
"I just moved here to work with
the coaches and train with the other
great athletes," Plab went on to say.
For anyone who's watched
these athletes train, it's easy to see
the passion and desire they hold for
the sport
"Being a sprinter takes a great
deal of intensity," said the '92
Oh/mpian, Couch.
"You have to know how to rest-
hard, then be able to focus all your
energy into your immediate goal I
enjoy training here in Fresno because
of the great conditions and environ¬
ment The enthusiasm the surround¬
ing communities have fix track and
sports in general is very exciting."
Some of the- world's top
track athletes and their awesome
talents will be on display at the 66th
annual Bob Mathias Fresno Relays
today and tomorrow. For the fans
and spectators in attendance at the
meet, one will likely get a taste of
what Olympic competition is all
about ' '
RELAYS, from page 6
time Chinese Olympian; Meredith
Rainey, who ran the 800 meters at
Barcelona, and several other top
athletes.
From the collegiate standpoint
Fresno State will go up against top
teams from around the state, in¬
cluding USC, Cal and Stanford.
the Bulldogs' Todd Riech is a
likely candidate to set an American
record in the javelin and could use
there'ays as his forum. Riech, a two-
time All-American, recorded the
longest throw in the world this year
wimaheaveof257-8 at theFSU All¬
comers meet .At that same meet
Riech fouled on a throw measured at
around 280 feet, which would have
challenged Tom Pukstys' American
record of 281-2.
Other top FSU competitors in¬
clude NCAA indoor hurdles cham¬
pion Rob Foster and three-time 400
meters  All-American Tanya
Dootey
Today's events will include fop
athletes from small area high
schools, as well as elementary
school youths. Saturday's action
will include top collegiate and in¬
vitational performers. Saturday's
"Prime rime" kicks off at 4 p.m.
and concludes Saturday night at 9
p.m.
j.