Mansfield High School All-Sports Booster Club
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Hornets have a triple threat!
BY PETER GOBIS / SUN CHRONICLE STAFF
Monday, February 12, 2007 12:02 AM EST
BY PETER GOBIS / SUN CHRONICLE STAFF
Monday, February 12, 2007 12:02 AM EST
MANSFIELD - Not one, not two, but there is the potential for three members of the Mansfield High boys' indoor track team to be
standing side by side next weekend when medals are presented to the best shot putters assembled for the MIAA Division 2
Championship Meet at the Reggie Lewis Center.
"Our goal is 1, 2, 3," said Mansfield High assistant coach Steve Cameron, the former Attleboro High weight great, who has
tutored Mansfield High senior Greg Martell, junior Mike McPherson and sophomore Dan Glavin to all have throws over 50-feet this
season. "Having one 50-footer at this level is having a good year, two is a rare blessing, but three doesn't happen!"
But it does and it presents the Hockomock League dual meet tri-champion Hornets with the potential for an accumulation of
points that might separate them from the rest of the Division 2 competition.
"Just the competition that these guys go through every day in practice is huge, it kind of reminds me of my days back at
Attleboro High with Bob Otrando, Greg Butterfield and Fred Pardey," chuckled Cameron.
All three have produced throws of 50-feet or better, just not all on the same day, "but that's what we're looking for," said
Cameron, who has a technically sound thrower in Martell and two underclassmen in McPherson and Glavin who are throwing on
natural ability and strength.
Martell, headed to Northeastern University on a football scholarship, was the defending Hockomock League shot put champion
and has a personal-best throw of 51-feet, 11-inches.
McPherson played basketball during his first two winters and opted to pick up a smaller and heavier ball this winter. With two
months of training, McPherson earned the MVP award at the MSTCA Invitational Meet at the Reggie Lewis Center, winning the
shot put event with a throw of 50-1.
And all Glavin did was rewrite the MSTCA Freshman-Sophomore Meet record among the large school entrants, winning the event
with a throw of 50-8.
At the Hockomock League Championship Meet Saturday, Glavin delivered a first place heave of 52-9, McPherson took third at
50-4 and Martell finished ninth at 43-7 , the Hornets taking 16 points in the event.
"Without him, I'd be throwing in the high 30s, maybe 40," Martell said of Cameron's input. "He's helped me immensely - he's the
best in the business. He can watch me throw and in five minutes pick out the little things that I'm doing wrong."
Through all of the illustrious track history at Mansfield High, only four other Hornets have thrown over 50-feet - record holder
Derek McCune (55-6 ), current Boston College Eagle Gerry Willette (51-4 ), Jon Antonucci (50-5) and Steve Trexler (50 ).
The 6-foot-5 Martell is the more advanced, in terms of technique, among the Hornet shot putters. He has been slowed a bit by a
hamstring injury suffered during the football season, which has denied him full range of his legs in blasting out of the circle. "He's
a big, tall, gangly kid, but now he's in his seventh season."
Nonetheless, "he uses his body the best, he's my best technician," Cameron said of Martell adapting to the more conventional
"gliding" style, the Olympian Perry O'Brien-style of facing the back of the circle and swirling his legs before launching.
"I like to call McPherson a genetic freak," said Cameron. "That's because he's only been throwing eight weeks. He's only
5-foot-10, he's built like a fire hydrant. He has natural cables (legs and muscles), but he has a gift. I saw him dunk a basketball as
a freshman and said to myself, I'd love to see what this kid could do."
McPherson has a "Texas two-step style," that is bend over, making a pair of gyrations with his legs and "bombs out a throw,"
added Cameron. "He doesn't know what he's doing, he's basically throwing from a stand. With his continued enthusiasm and
committment, he could be a 60-footer."
Glavin, believe or not, befriended the Willette family a few years ago and it was at their urging that they suggested he pursue his
interest in track. "That was when he was in the eighth grade and I didn't know what I had," said Cameron of the raw, six-footer.
"He's special in that he's smart, he's athletic and he's a track junkie, he loves every minute of it."
Glavin took an MTA train into Boston last year for the MIAA Division 2 and MIAA State meets to watch the Hornets compete as he
was a rookie. He got a glimpse into the pressure-packed postseason meets and now might have an impact upon the fortunes of
Mansfield High.
"He's so explosive, I have to slow him down, " said Cameron, who will slow down meet film between winter and spring seasons
to review where his technique needs to be refined.
The trio of Hornet shot putters throw, at the most, 15-20 times per day with weight training and condition. "We go in there, do our
work and that's it, we don't throw that much," said Martell.
"The Division 2 Meet, then the state meet, that's where we're hoping to shine," said Cameron. "We like to think that the body is a
rectangular piece of rubber and we make them human catapults."
Three times over, as Hornets.
PETER GOBIS may be contacted at 508-236-0375 or via e-mail at pgobis@thesunchronicle.com
standing side by side next weekend when medals are presented to the best shot putters assembled for the MIAA Division 2
Championship Meet at the Reggie Lewis Center.
"Our goal is 1, 2, 3," said Mansfield High assistant coach Steve Cameron, the former Attleboro High weight great, who has
tutored Mansfield High senior Greg Martell, junior Mike McPherson and sophomore Dan Glavin to all have throws over 50-feet this
season. "Having one 50-footer at this level is having a good year, two is a rare blessing, but three doesn't happen!"
But it does and it presents the Hockomock League dual meet tri-champion Hornets with the potential for an accumulation of
points that might separate them from the rest of the Division 2 competition.
"Just the competition that these guys go through every day in practice is huge, it kind of reminds me of my days back at
Attleboro High with Bob Otrando, Greg Butterfield and Fred Pardey," chuckled Cameron.
All three have produced throws of 50-feet or better, just not all on the same day, "but that's what we're looking for," said
Cameron, who has a technically sound thrower in Martell and two underclassmen in McPherson and Glavin who are throwing on
natural ability and strength.
Martell, headed to Northeastern University on a football scholarship, was the defending Hockomock League shot put champion
and has a personal-best throw of 51-feet, 11-inches.
McPherson played basketball during his first two winters and opted to pick up a smaller and heavier ball this winter. With two
months of training, McPherson earned the MVP award at the MSTCA Invitational Meet at the Reggie Lewis Center, winning the
shot put event with a throw of 50-1.
And all Glavin did was rewrite the MSTCA Freshman-Sophomore Meet record among the large school entrants, winning the event
with a throw of 50-8.
At the Hockomock League Championship Meet Saturday, Glavin delivered a first place heave of 52-9, McPherson took third at
50-4 and Martell finished ninth at 43-7 , the Hornets taking 16 points in the event.
"Without him, I'd be throwing in the high 30s, maybe 40," Martell said of Cameron's input. "He's helped me immensely - he's the
best in the business. He can watch me throw and in five minutes pick out the little things that I'm doing wrong."
Through all of the illustrious track history at Mansfield High, only four other Hornets have thrown over 50-feet - record holder
Derek McCune (55-6 ), current Boston College Eagle Gerry Willette (51-4 ), Jon Antonucci (50-5) and Steve Trexler (50 ).
The 6-foot-5 Martell is the more advanced, in terms of technique, among the Hornet shot putters. He has been slowed a bit by a
hamstring injury suffered during the football season, which has denied him full range of his legs in blasting out of the circle. "He's
a big, tall, gangly kid, but now he's in his seventh season."
Nonetheless, "he uses his body the best, he's my best technician," Cameron said of Martell adapting to the more conventional
"gliding" style, the Olympian Perry O'Brien-style of facing the back of the circle and swirling his legs before launching.
"I like to call McPherson a genetic freak," said Cameron. "That's because he's only been throwing eight weeks. He's only
5-foot-10, he's built like a fire hydrant. He has natural cables (legs and muscles), but he has a gift. I saw him dunk a basketball as
a freshman and said to myself, I'd love to see what this kid could do."
McPherson has a "Texas two-step style," that is bend over, making a pair of gyrations with his legs and "bombs out a throw,"
added Cameron. "He doesn't know what he's doing, he's basically throwing from a stand. With his continued enthusiasm and
committment, he could be a 60-footer."
Glavin, believe or not, befriended the Willette family a few years ago and it was at their urging that they suggested he pursue his
interest in track. "That was when he was in the eighth grade and I didn't know what I had," said Cameron of the raw, six-footer.
"He's special in that he's smart, he's athletic and he's a track junkie, he loves every minute of it."
Glavin took an MTA train into Boston last year for the MIAA Division 2 and MIAA State meets to watch the Hornets compete as he
was a rookie. He got a glimpse into the pressure-packed postseason meets and now might have an impact upon the fortunes of
Mansfield High.
"He's so explosive, I have to slow him down, " said Cameron, who will slow down meet film between winter and spring seasons
to review where his technique needs to be refined.
The trio of Hornet shot putters throw, at the most, 15-20 times per day with weight training and condition. "We go in there, do our
work and that's it, we don't throw that much," said Martell.
"The Division 2 Meet, then the state meet, that's where we're hoping to shine," said Cameron. "We like to think that the body is a
rectangular piece of rubber and we make them human catapults."
Three times over, as Hornets.
PETER GOBIS may be contacted at 508-236-0375 or via e-mail at pgobis@thesunchronicle.com
| Greg Martell |