Zach Short spent his 2019 indoor season moving from one personal best to another, eventually making his way to the 2019 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships.
While the improvements themselves did not come as a shock, Short said the numbers themselves did.
“I was expecting to improve, but I wasn’t expecting to PR as much as I did,” Short said. “Throughout the indoor season, I think we were more shooting for success in outdoor and indoor went way better than I expected so I am not sure what to expect for outdoor, but I am hoping it is better.”
Short started the season by crushing his previous personal record, throwing 18.97 meters at the Lauren McCluskey Memorial Open Jan. 12, breaking the Big Sky record for shot put as well. To follow it up, he set a new conference and personal record at the D1 Invitational Team Challenge with his first throw of 19 meters.
Then he did it just one more time at the Big Sky Indoor Track and Field Championships, with a throw of 19.81 meters.
“It is definitely a goal that I had for the next two years, I wasn’t really shooting for it this year,” Short said of his record-breaking performances. “But it happened and it just feels really good to be ahead of schedule in a way. Just to have those accomplishments, it’s a good sign that I’m doing the right things and my hard work is paying off.”
Short’s success, while exciting, did not come as a huge surprise to Tim Cawley, Idaho Director of Track and Field/Cross-Country.
“He is a fantastic competitor, so it doesn’t surprise me that he put it together when the meet came as well. I don’t know if I fully expected 19.81 meters, but it doesn’t nec- essarily surprise me. The whole goal was setting him up for outdoors, so we are a little ahead of the game from where we thought we would be right now.”
After breaking his own records throughout the season and a first-place finish in the conference champion- ships, Short was the only Vandal to advance to the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships.
“It was really neat. Just competing with the best in the nation, being at that stage and rubbing shoulders with the top guys and just seeing what they are doing,” Short said.
“Just being at that big stage and competing, I think it is a great experience just for future competitions I may have at that big of a stage, I will know how to handle them, how to mentally approach things.”
Short focused not only on training in the weight room targeted for throws, but focused on the mental compo- nent in the sport as well. Short said his mental preparation did not include shooting week-by-week for a new record, but keeping the long-game in mind and working to progress throughout the season.
“That was something I didn’t really have last year,” Short said. “I didn’t really work at, talking with my coach, Brett (Olsen), just about the mental game changed it. It was just something I never done, but it helped a lot. It is kind of surprising how much of an important role that mental game really takes.”
As the junior continues to grow and progress as an athlete, his leadership role and skills have grown in turn. Short said he emphasizes leading by example, both on and off the field.
“Just learning from the experiences I’ve had, the struggles, all that, I can share it with my teammates and if they have similar experiences then I can be like, ‘Well this worked for me, maybe it will work for you,’” Short said. “So just going through those experiences has just helped me a lot with my leadership and my team.”
Now, he works to transition into the outdoor season with the rest of the team.
After finishing fifth on the men’s side and eighth overall on the women’s side, Idaho’s best finishes in the Big Sky since rejoining, the team heads into the next season with high hopes and added momentum.
“I think there is some excitement, a little more belief of, ‘Hey we can make a little bit more noise here, score a few more points,’” Cawley said. “I think there is a little bit of excitement, a little bit of positive momentum moving in to outdoors.”
As the outdoor season arrives, Short said the team as a unit feels strong and only continues to grow as it strides towards upward progression in conference.
“The environment has been getting better and better every year and we are all pushing each other and helping each other out, so I am really excited to just see kind of what that environment does for our competitions and stuff like that,” he said. “I think it has been really good over these past few years and I think it is getting better.”
Meredith Spelbring can be reached at [email protected]