Olympic Trials: Climbing a mountain

With a single throw - his final throw no less - at the Big 12 Championships on May 1, senior Tom Engwall shattered his personal-best and surprised a field of 16 to become the Longhorns first conference champion in the javelin since 1991. (Last UT javelin champion was former All-American and school record-holder Patrik Boden in 1991.) The Hutchinson, Minn., native unleashed a throw which measured 239 feet, six inches (73.01m), just enough to give him the Olympic Trials "A" qualifying mark which was set at an even 73 meters.

That one throw gave Engwall the trifecta: The sixth-best performance by an individual in school history, a Big 12 title and the automatic spot at the Olympic Trails. The Trials begin Friday, July 9, and continue through Sunday, July 18, in Sacramento, Calif., at the Alex G. Spanos Sports Complex.

Engwall, who transferred to Texas prior to the 2004 season from Division III St. John's University (Minn.), qualified for the NCAA Championships held in Austin (June 9-12) and finished 12th overall in his biggest track and field meet to date. Although considered a long shot to make the U.S. Team in the javelin, Engwall remains free of expectations and knows he has the perfect opportunity once again to surprise. He recently sat down with TexasSports.com to talk about his thoughts heading into the Olympic Trials, as he prepares to compete against some of the world's elite.

How does it feel to be among the elite track and field athletes in the United States with the opportunity to compete at the Olympic Trials? It's an incredible feeling just to go to a meet of that caliber and be in a position to qualify for Team USA where you represent your country at the Olympics. I am with such an elite group of guys in the javelin, and just to be there with all the other elite athletes is going to be an unbelievable experience. It is something that I have been working toward the last couple of years and it has been a goal of mine to qualify for the Trials. It is very satisfying to be going and to meet that goal.

What is your mindset heading into the meet? I'm probably not expected to do too many things at the Trials because I'm coming in with one of the lowest qualifying marks, but I'm really going into the meet with the mindset to perform my best and reach a personal best. I think it's a great opportunity, and you can't ask for a better environment to do something like that. I really want to go out there and show people that I can throw with the best in the country. I'd be very happy to make the finals and be competing on that second day. If I'm satisfied with how my body feels that day and how my technique is going, there is no reason why I shouldn't get a big throw. All any athlete can do at the meet is give it their best effort and that is what I plan to do. Since I am so inexperienced, it's going to be hard to hit the perfect throw, but this experience will give me a lot of room for improvement in the future.

Are you at an advantage going into Trials because there isn't a lot of pressure or expectations on you like there is on some of the other competitors? There is virtually no pressure on me, because of my lack of experience and due to the fact that I'm not sitting at the top. I'm sure the guys at the top are feeling a lot of pressure. I look back now at the NCAA Championships and I was one of those guys at the top and there was a lot of pressure on me. This meet is the exact opposite. There is really no pressure on me and I can go into the meet relaxed and let whatever happens, happen.

Who are some of the other throwers in the field you are excited to see compete or compete against? I think everyone is anxious to see Breaux Greer throw. He enters Trials with the best mark in the country by several meters and he broke the American record a few weeks ago. I am very anxious to see him throw because he is one of the best in the world and he has a great shot to win an Olympic medal for our country this year. I'm also anxious to see how well Chris Clever throws, because I have been training with him all year. He has worked very hard and he has dedicated himself to qualifying for Team USA the past couple of years. I'm anxious to see how he does in and I think he is due for a really big throw.

How has the experience of competing at a big meet like the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Austin helped you prepare for a meet like this? I probably learned more at that June meet than any other athletic event I've ever been a part of, because I made some mistakes at the national meet in the finals. I did well in the prelims and then in the finals, I made some mistakes in my warm-up. I had some time management issues with how I was doing my warm-up and I wasn't ready by the time finals were starting. It really taught me the valuable lesson that I need to be more prepared in the warm-up, and not just mentally prepared for the actual meet itself, but that I need to make sure I get everything done that I need to get done since I probably take more time to get warmed up than any other guy out there.

How did your transition from Division III competition to life at Texas and in the Big 12 go this past season? It's almost been like climbing a mountain this year. I really struggled at the beginning. I think I needed some time to adjust to this level of competition. With the javelin, you are competing against yourself. There are the same specifics in the javelin that there are in Division I or III, but being in the D-I competitive atmosphere took me a little time to adjust to. The meets have been a lot different here than at the D-III level, because there is a lot more pressure on you here at Texas. It just took me a couple of months to adjust and I finally hit the peak of the mountain at the Big 12 Championships when I had a big throw to win. Now, I'm going to try to climb another peak next weekend at Trials.

As you look back at your performance at the Big 12 Championships, was that the highlight of the year for you? I think winning the Big 12 javelin title was the highlight of my athletic career thus far. Because I was able to win the meet in such dramatic fashion makes it the highlight. I was seeded low before the meet, my winning mark came on my last throw, and I automatically qualified for the Olympic Trials all at the same time. It was unbelievable.

Do you have any family traveling to Sacramento for the Trials to support you? I'll have seven people there. My mom, dad, sister, grandmother, aunt and uncle, and my cousin will all be in attendance. My brother, who was here for the NCAA meet, actually just left for South Africa two days ago to study abroad for a semester.

The Trails begin Friday, July 9, and you'll be able to watch them on TV, but you actually don't compete until Thursday, July 15. What do you think your emotions will be on the day you open qualifying? Since I have never been in such a high-profile meet before, it's hard to judge what my emotions will be the day of my competition. Between now and then, I want to stay relaxed and not think about too much. I've been trying to get into the habit of visualizing a perfect throw every day and every night, but other than that I'm not trying to get too excited. I think I might have been over-excited for the national meet. I think if I just level out my emotions going into this meet it might help me out.

What are some of the things you have been working on since Outdoor Nationals concluded? A big issue for me all year has been my approach, just trying to feel quicker, faster and a little more athletic coming down the runway. Probably the biggest thing I've had to deal with since Nationals is trying to gain weight back, because I lost about 20 pounds due to food poisoning the weekend after nationals. I'm still about 10 pounds under weight, which has been a blessing in disguise because I'm actually faster on the runway right now. Getting all my weight and strength back has been the main thing these past few weeks for me.

How does it feel to represent Texas at the Trials? How do you think your teammate Andra Manson will fare in the high jump? Andra has as good a chance as anybody in the high jump to make the U.S. Olympic Team. He has such unbelievable potential. What he did at Nationals is just a taste of what he can do in the future. He has exceptional athletic ability and he is very driven. Andra has a goal to make the team and I hope he does it. As far as competing for Texas, before I came down here I wasn't too familiar with the Texas tradition and the pride in our athletic program, but I was quickly introduced to it. I am very proud to compete for Texas and I fully understand what it means to be an athlete here. It's going to be really great to put on the burnt orange and white at the Trials and represent Texas.

The University of Texas at Austin Athletics