NEW WEBSITE!!!

Hi all!!!

As promised, I have been working on my new website. It is now up and running. Check it out at WWW.STEVEMANZ.COM!!! This will be my last post at this blog. The new website will have a blog, forum, store, and much more. Check it out!

Steve

Greece

Whew... It has been a while since I have been able to get to a computer. Well, Greece was ok. I did not throw all that great but things were still good. I ended up throwing 18.88m (61'11'') which was good for 4th place. I actually had a nice foul on my first throw. It was 64' and just outside the left sector line. Oh well. It is very comforting to know that the season is over. It just got so hard, struggling through the entire outdoor season. Training and work were just too much for me this year and it was hard to stay on top of my technique and strength.

Right now, I am in Budapest. I have a train to catch tomorrow morning that will take me to Zagreb. I will stay in Croatia a little bit before I come home on August 10th. I am definitely ready to be home. I miss my family, my friends, and my girlfriend. This has been a long summer, but also very enjoyable. Getting to visit different countries all over the world is truly a blessing.

So now for the next edition. I will be shutting down this blog after one more post in the next couple of weeks. When I get home, I will be visiting Louisiana for 2 weeks. During this time, I will be constructing a website to post news, pictures, schedules, etc. I will also introduce a new fundraising idea to help support my run for the 2008 Olympics. I can't give all of the details just yet, but there will be t shirts and more!

Until then, take care! See you soon...

Nothing new...

Hey all,

I don't have much to say, but I just wanted to let you know I was alive and well. Not much has gone on since my last post. I took a trip to the Croatian National Championships on Sunday but I did not throw. I could not get a ride on the day of the shot put, but it is not important. Now, I have three more days in Hungary before I leave for Greece. The meet is a hammer and shot only event, so we get a lot of attention. Plus, our hotel is more of a resort, situated about 100 feet from the Mediterranean. Fun stuff. After that I will hang out in Europe for about 3 or 4 days before I come back on August 10th. I will definitely visit Zagreb for at least 2 days. :)

I have been giving the fundraising thing a lot of thought. I am not firm on anything yet, but it will probably involve some sort of private sponsorship printed on a t-shirt. I will wear this shirt during warm-ups in the upcoming year and it will have the names/companies of those who donated money on it in different sizes (depending on donation). I think it is a good idea. I just hope it works. I will write more in a later blog post, but the main reason for this down season is the difficulty of balancing a full-time job with training. I know I can put a lot more into it and have a chance at doing something really special in 2008. So, chew on that for a while... I am sure I'll have a post up before the end of August.

Thanks for your support so far! I hope you enjoy the blog. Maybe I can work on a website in teh future!

Szombathely

I am back to my roots, in the little Hungarian town of Szombathely (pronounced Som-ba-tay). I got a good lift in and am sure that my lack of training is the main reason my throwing isnt going well. I will get some good training in here and try to regain some strength for my last two meets of the year.

I was originally going to go back to Zagreb for a couple of days, but my layover was in Vienna. Since I would have to take a $60 train to Vienna from Zagreb anyways, I decided to skip my flight to Zagreb. I am getting quite good at getting around in Europe by myself. So if anyone wants a guide on a vist, I am free!

I will most likely be throwing in the Croatian National Championships this weekend. It will not be for money and I will be "out of competition" in the results. Either way, it will be fun. I love being in Croatia. After 10 days in Bjelolasica, my Croatian was getting pretty good. I know how to say pretty much everything, and know I must learn how to understand when others talk to me. I think I will have 1 more year before I can engage in actual conversation.

Fun. Ok, that is it for now.

Finland Results

Hey all.

Well, the meet didn't go so well. I ended up throwing 18.89m (62'0") which was good for 3rd. All of my other throws were around 61' with no fouls. My body felt good going into the meet but my technique was sloppy and I could not get after the finish. 1st place was only 19.49m (63'11") and 2nd place was 18.90m, one centimeter in front of me. :( That is an expensive centimeter. Hehehe. Those who know me well, know that I will not get too bothered by a meet like this. I think I just feel burnt out from the season and have run out of gas. I am really ready for this season to be over so I can start focusing on the Olympic year.

It will be nice to have a training group next year in Ashland, Ohio. I am also hoping that I will not have to work too much. I felt that my second year of coaching really put a damper on my season. I enjoy coaching and I don't mind working, but it takes so much out of training. I am currently trying to think of some fundraising ideas for next season so if you have some, please drop me a line at stevemanz@hotmail.com.

Anywho, I will leave Lapinlahti tomorrow morning on a bus headed for Helsinki. I am pretty sure I won't have any more meets until August 4th in Greece, which will be my last meet. I am still deciding on where I will be for the next two weeks. It might be a good time to find a cheap vacation and go relax for a bit. When I get home, I will hit the ground running. I will visit my girlfriend (Hi Jackie!) in Louisiana for a bit and then start up training in early September.

But I'm in good spirits for my last meet. Anything can happen. I have had big throws feeling like this in the past. I just know that I am ready to come back home and get ready for next year.

Ok.... That's all! Take it easy. I will post again later this week - maybe Thursday or Friday.

Lapinlahti

I am here in Finland, in the city of Lapin Lahti. After a long travel day yesterday, including a 5 hour train ride from Helsinki, I got a long sleep in before today. The meet is tomorrow, Sunday, at 120pm. Finland, like every other country I go to, is amazing. The diversity of culture, environment, food, language, and people in Europe is just exciting to me. Finland reminds me of my childhood in the countryside of Northern/Western Michigan. The tall skinny pines, white birch trees, numerous lakes, and cottage-like houses make me feel like I am back in Michigan.

There is one difference however. It didnt get dark last night before I went to bed at midnight and I am pretty sure that it doesnt get dark at all here this time of year. This is easily the farthest north I have ever been and probably as far as I'll ever go. It is located above the 63rd parallel which is equivalent to being in Central Alaska. It is only 300 miles from the Artic Circle. Pretty cool.

We are staying in some sort of dormitories with a dining hall and a building that houses the classrooms, the internet room :), the pool, and the sauna (Fins love the sauna!). Ok, I've been on the computer for a bit too long now. It is hard getting on the computer whenever I want, but here it seems extremely easy. I dont know what to do myself.

So, meet is tomorrow. I will throw far. And I'll post about it soon afterwards (Sunday sometime).

To Finland!

Hello all again. Well it seems my stay at the training center in Croatia is coming to an end. I have to say that I am kind of happy. I had hoped for more meets by now but it has not worked out that way. The good news is that this stay has allowed for really good training. I feel as if my last few meets of the year will go very well. Other than that, things have been ok here. I am a little homesick and am ready for the season to be done. Only two more weeks.

Tomorrow, I am taking the train to Zagreb before leaving for Finland the following morning. I will fly into Helsinki and have a 5 hour drive to Lapinlahti. I am very excited to see Finland because I have heard so much from Ty, who has gone there many times to throw javelin. The fans there really love throwers from what I hear.

I also have a meet confirmed in Nikiti, Greece on August 4th. After Finland, I will head to Hungary until my next meet. Hopefully, there will be something before Greece.

Until next time...

Still Bjelolasica

Hey,

Well I have no meets this weekend. I am still at the Croatian Training Center in Bjelolasica. Training is going very well. That is pretty much all I do. The food here is good and the scenery is amazing but it can get very redundant. I will probably leave here on Thursday to head out for two meets in Finland. I think they are on the 22nd and 25th. I am excited to go because Ive never been to Finland and have heard a lot about it from my former coach. I also have been confirmed for a meet in Nikiti, Greece on August 4th. I went to this meet last year and it was great.

Other than that, nothing much is new. Im just trying to prepare for those meets so I can throw as far as possible!

Tomorrow, we are going to the coast which is about 45 minutes west of here. It will be a good break from the redundancy of daily life here (eat, train, sleep).

Talk to you soon.

For some reason, I cant put a title on this one. It was going to be called Bjelolasica which is where I am staying right now. I am at the Croatian Olympic Training Center for the next 4 to 7 days depending on whether or not I have a meet this weekend. It is truly a beautiful place. Big mountains. Mist. Amazing.

The wedding was great. I cannot believe my little sister is married! I am so happy for her and am glad that she is living a great life. I got to see pretty much everyone in my life last weekend which was great. It isnt often that you get everyone together.

The travel, however, was not so great. I put in 35 hrs on Friday and 35 hrs on Sunday to travel back. My body is tired, but that is why I am here. To rest and recoooooooooooperate. I lifted today and did some sprints and I will throw tomorrow with another lifiting session added in. This is my time to train while I am out here and Im going to make the best of it. Hopefully, I will have a meet this weekend.

Thats all I have for now. I hope all of you are enjoying your summer!

Zagreb

Not much time to post now but I will post a lot more later!

Zagreb was great! I threw 19.38m (63ft 7in) which was good for 6th. This was one of the biggest meets I have ever been in and I threw well. Especially well because there was such bad weather. It was pouring the whole time!

I have had a great time here. Awesome hotel. Good party after the meet. I got to use my Croatian a lot. You can find complete results at http://www.has.hr/hanzek/index.htm or www.zagrebhanzek.com.

I am now traveling by train to Vienna for my flights tomorrow. Be home soon!

Cork, Ireland

Hey all,

Sorry about the last post. I was in the airport and European keyboards can be quite tricky when you don't have a lot of time! On Friday, Nedzad (my Croatian friend) and I went to Ireland. It was a long day of traveling - moreso than usual. We had to leave the hotel at 8am to catch a ride to Graz, Austria (2 hrs). We had to wait 4 hours in Graz before our flight left for London. In London we had another 3 hour layover before we left for Cork, Ireland. It ended up being 14 hours of travel which isn't great for the body. Especially, when you have a meet the next day! I try not to let things like that bother me though.

The meet Ireland was o.k. I felt like I could have thrown much much farther. It was weird today. My body felt pretty good but I felt very uncoordinated in the ring. I opened up with a throw of 18.05m (59') which is pretty bad for me. I ended up muscling a throw out to 18.94m (62'2") but not one throw felt even average. I lost half the throws off of my hand and didn't feel connected with any of them. My throw ended up being good enough for 5th. I took 2nd last year and my throw from last year (64'9") would have been good enough for 2nd again. That's a bit disappointing. But, oh well! I didn't have a great outdoor season this year so it is hard to expect myself to have great meets everytime. Usually, when my technique is not on, the bad meets are really bad. But I can still have great days and who knows how I feel when I am fresh.

I should be pretty fresh for my meet in Zagreb, Croatia on Wednesday. I'm leaving for Zagreb with Ned tomorrow and will have 2 solid days of rest with no travel. I'm very excited to go to Croatia because my Croatian is getting much better. It will be fun to use it and get the best practice available for learning a language. The meet in Croatia is a big one. It is a Grand Prix meeting which means lots of competition and big points for my World Ranking. I'm happy that I won't have to travel at all before the meet. So, cross your fingers!

After the Zagreb Grand Prix, I will head back to the States for 2 days. My sister is getting married on July 7th and I can't miss that! Although I haven't been gone long, I'm excited to see my family and my girlfriend (Miss you!). I should have a computer available in Zagreb, so I will be able to post after the meet before I head home for 48 hours.

Oh, here are the results from the meet. You can also go to www.corkcitysports.ie for pictures or results from the meet.

Cork City Sports Meeting Results 7/1/07:
1. Reese Hoffa USA 21.47m (70'5")
2. Ivan Yushov RUS 19.53m (64'1")
3. Jamie Beyer USA 19.13m (62'9")
4. Nedzad Mulabegovic CRO 19.09m (62'7")
5. Steve Manz USA 18.94m (62'2")
6. Rhuben Williams USA 18.53 (60'9")

Talk to you soon!

Slovenia Meet

Hez all. Sorrz about y and z and tzpos. dont have enough timxe to trz to do this grammaticallz. Iim in the Graz airport. Iim leaving for Cork, ireland in about 1 hr. Tthe meet in slovenia went ok. I threw 19.22m (63 ft 1 in). Technique felt good but mz bodz is a little tired. Hhad no problem fouling or balancing so Iim verz optimistic about saturdaz in irleand and wednesdaz in croatia. Mz throw was good for 4th place. Mz friend Nedzad took 2nd with 65ft 6in. We are traveling together to Cork todaz. Slovenia is reallz beautiful. Mountains everzwhere and a lot of countrz side.

Iim excited to compete in ireland. It was definitelz mz favorite meet from last summer and this zears competition is going to be verz tough! Tthe number one thrower in the world, reese hoffa, will be there along with a lot of other verz good throwers. i will write more if i can find an internet cafe in ireland. i hope this was not too pain staking to read!

Steve

In Europe

Hi all!

Im in Europe! I arrived in Germany yesterday morning at 113ö am. Forgive me for spelling errors. The y and z are backwards along with some other keys. It was a long day. I arrived in Dusseldorf on Tuesday and traveled by plane to Zurich and then Vienna. In Vienna, I had to take a bus to the train station. Well, my agent accidentally told me to go to the wrong station. So, I hopped on a street car towards the other train station. It was stressful and exciting at the same time. I was not totallz sure if I was on the correct street car or if I would make it in time. I ended up making it to the Sudbahnhof Station 1ö minutes early and made the train. The train then took me to Gyor (pronounced Dior). Andras picked me up there and we had a 2 hr drive back to Szombathely, Hungary. I got in at about 1am and crashed soon after.

It was nice being back in Hungary. I went to my favorite restaurant for lunch today and saw some of the city. Mz first meet is tomorrow in Velenje, Slovenia. We will be driving for about 3 hrs to get there to throw at around 8pm. Although I didnt get much sleep on the flights, my bodz still feels good. I am still readz to throw far.

Well, I will write back soon on how mz meet went. I wont come back to Hungarz until Sundaz. I will be stazing in Graz, Austria on Thursday night before flying to Ireland for the weekend. As soon as I get near a computer, I will update zou on how the trip is going.

Bye! (Or as they say in Hungary, Allo!)

USA's

Well, USA's didn't go so well. My body felt great. I warmed up great. On my first throw, I was a little hesitant and threw 18.16 (59'6"). On my second throw, I pulled it together and threw out over 65' but had a small foul. Then, the third throw fell off of my hand. I'm very disappointed with how I performed. I know that if I had gotten that 2nd throw in, that things would have been very different. It was raining off and on, and that seemed to bother most of the athletes. But rain has never bothered me and definitely wasn't on my mind during the meet. I guess I just got a little unlucky. I wasn't as prepared as I wanted to be, mostly due to a long collegiate season that burnt me out (coaching). But now I'm moving on. I will be ready next time and this upcoming year will be a big push towards my dreams and goals. But before that, I have a bunch of meets to do in Europe.

I'm very excited for Europe this year. Although the national meet didn't go well, my body is firing and ready to throw 20 meters again. I feel like I could PR at any time. I have a great schedule lined up so far, with meets in Slovenia, Ireland, and Croatia. I'm leaving on Monday for Dusseldorf, Germany. From there I will travel to Szombathely, Hungary, where I had spent all of last summer. My first meet is on Thursday in Velenje, Slovenia. There will be good competition there, with at least 2 other athletes over 20 meters (66'). Saturday, I will have a meet in Cork, Ireland. I was at this meet last year and it was, hands-down, my favorite meet. They brought in more big names for this year, making it a big challenge for me to better my 2nd place finish from last year. Then, on Wednesday, I will have the meet that I have been anticipating for a long time. It will be held in Zagreb, Croatia. If you know me well, you know that I have been learning Croatian for a couple of years now. This meet is a very very big meet. It is part of the Grand Prix Circuit. It will be very competitive and I'm excited to be throwing in a big meet in one of my favorite European cities. Following that, I will travel back home for 2 days for Susan's wedding. Then back to Europe or more!!!

So that's it for now. Any chance I get, I will update you on how the meets went along with links to results and pictures. Wish me luck!

Up North

Hi All!

Sorry, it has been so long since my last post. I'm preparing for a long summer of track meets. I moved up to Ashland, Ohio on Thursday. I have to be honest that this season has not gone has great as I had planned. I got a little burnt out from the collegiate season this year, but I am now fired up to finish strong. The atmosphere here is amazing. My last two weeks of practices in Louisiana went really good. I got a bit scared when I arrived at Ashland because my first practice went pretty bad. It was probably all the driving. Also, I have been having finger problems the past month. It has cut a lot of practices short. But I am working through it. I threw in a meet on Tuesday at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI. The meet at Indiana had initially canceled the shot put so my friend Norm Zylstra, the coach at Calvin, put together a meet for me. My mark wasn't amazing but my technique was good. I was much better balanced and didn't foul as much as earlier this season. I threw 19.07m (62'7") and had a foul at 19.72m. My timing still needs to get better, but the technique is there. This makes me very happy, because it only takes me 2-3 weeks to find the timing when I am balanced and confident. I will be ready for USA Outdoors and the European circuit. I will have one more meet before USA's at the University of Kentucky on Thursday, 6/14. This will be a good meet to see where I am at. There should be some good competition there and a 65' throw would show that I'm on pace for some big throws. I had a great practice on Thursday in Ashland. It was my first real practice with Jud Logan as my coach. He is the head coach at Ashland and a 4x Olympian in the hammer. Great coach. I threw the 15 lb shot and had some throws out near 21m (69'). This practice was easily my 2nd best practice of the year. We figured out some technical things early on in practice and then I was able to get after it. Things are still not perfect, but definitely very close.

I should also add that I'm very excited for next year. I don't want to get into it too much until the season is over, but I think this was the best choice I could have made for a push towards the Olympics in 2008.

I will get back to another post after Thursday. Posts will pick up from there as I use this web blog to update everyone on my European meets. Take care!

Leaving soon....

I don't have much time to write on here this week. I am tieing up all of the loose ends and preparing for the drive up to Ashland, Ohio on Wednesday and Thursday. Training is going well and I will be well prepared for USA's and Europe. Life is a bit hectic right now, but things will slow down soon... I will probably be doing a meet this weekend at the University of Indiana.

Talk to you soon...

My Schedule for the rest of the Season

I pretty much finalized my schedule for the rest of the season so I figured I would post it. I will probably wait 3-4 weeks before my next meet. I want to take this time to prepare myself for USA Outdoors and Europe. Here is the schedule:

5/23/07 Leave for NCAA Regional Meet in Columbia, Missouri.

5/27/07 Return from Missouri.

5/30/07 I will be leaving Lake Charles by car for Ashland, Ohio.

5/31/07 I will arrive in Ashland, Ohio. I will try to come up to Michigan on my free weekends. My next meet will be sometime soon after I arrive.

6/10/07 Flying to NYC to visit my girlfriend and her family.

6/13/07 Returning from NYC.

6/21/07 I will head to Indianapolis, IN for the USA Outdoor National meet.

6/23/07 I will be competing on this day in Indianapolis. 12:40 PM.

6/25/07 I will be leaving for a couple meets in Europe. The main meet will be in Cork, Ireland. I went to this meet last year and it was my favorite. They have asked me back, so I'm going!

7/5/07 Return from Europe. Hectic!

7/7/07 Susan's wedding! Can't wait!

7/8/07 Leave again for Europe. LOL. I don't know what meets I'll be in yet, but I will be sure to post as soon as I know.

8/?/07 Return from Europe and relax for a couple of weeks!

9/?/07 Resume training in my new headquarters - Ashland, Ohio.

Sounds like a crazy and fun summer, huh!?!?

A long weekend...

Hello all!

The weekend went great. It was the conference meet for my athletes and I decided to stay and watch rather than go to California. It will be my last conference meet with them and I knew they were going to do well. They actually did great! It started out with a great hammer competition. Stephanie Gilbert, a sophomore, competed well and managed a 3rd place finish. In the men's hammer, my little technician Freddie Hannie(who was a 400m runner 2 years ago), opened up the meet with a 6'+ PR at 178'9". This was a meet record and stunned the field for the first 3 rounds. In the last 3 rounds he was passed up, but he managed to pull away with third place. That was one of the best performances I've ever seen, especially from a 5'7" former runner. My other hammer thrower, John Jamail, muscled out a 7th place with a PR 167'6" and a 5th place shot put of 54'6". In the men's shot put, my Croatian thrower, Jan Bicanic, opened up with a huge 2' PR of 55'6" and ended up 2nd (and qualified for regionals). He must have taken some cues from Freddie. In the discus, Katarina Busljeta had a great season best of 161' to place 3rd and also qualify for regionals. So it was a great meet! Lots of PR'ing and some really clutch performances. I'm so proud!

Well, now on to me. I am throwing this coming weekend at our home meet. My training has been going very well. It will be nice when the college season is over and I can focus more on my throwing. I have made plans for next year, finally. I'm moving to Ashland, Ohio. There is a strong group of throwers there (mostly hammer throwers). I feel this is really the best place for me and should prepare me to compete for a spot on the 2008 Olympic team. I will be heading up there on May 30th. I will probably make a couple visits to Michigan before USA's. USA Outdoors is on June 25th in Indianapolis, IN. Would love for anyone to come and see me throw! Then, after Susan's wedding, it is off to Europe for a bit.

See you soon!

TGIF

Well, I didn't end up throwing yesterday. I got a practice in instead. The rings at the meet were very very bad - worst I've seen since high school. But the day ended on a great note. We held the hammer portion of the meet at our facilities. One of my girls that has been about 10 feet from making regionals hit an 18 ft PR to throw 183' in the hammer. I was extremely suprised. Now we have two of my throwers qualified and three more that are very close.

The slump is over...

Practice has gone great this week. My nervous system is firing and my body feels great. Now I just need to get my technique back to normal. I threw on Tuesday and threw pretty good. I still have some minor issues (including staying in the ring) but they should work themselves out in the next couple of weeks. Hopefully, just in time for the Modesto Relays in California on May 5th. I also have a very small meet tomorrow that will be treated as a practice. I'm hoping that I can stay in the ring and gain confidence to really chase the throw.

Right now I'm stressing about what I'm going to do this summer - when I'm going to leave for Europe, etc. When I have everything figured out I will post my plans. I originally planned on going to Europe after July 8th but I may also try to go out sometime in June before USA Nationals.

I'll keep you updated! Hopefully, I'll post soon about tomorrow's meet!

P.S. 1,000+ hits! I don't know who exactly is reading this, but thanks for the support and being patient with my lack of posts through my tougher weeks.

Blah...

Well, the throwing this weekend went poorly. I had three fouls and that was it. I felt like crap too. I'm going to move past that and prepare for my upcoming big meets.

I was offered a plane ticket, lodging, and per diem to head over to California for the Modesto Relays on May 5th. Of course, I accepted. It is a fairly big meet. Last year, Christian Cantwell, the number one thrower in the world, won the meet. So now I am gearing up my workouts so that I am ready to throw far there. I will have a small meet this weekend at LSU also.

This week will involve a lot of intense weight workouts. I also need to figure out what is wrong with my throw. I have no 'pop' in the throw. Hopefully, the weights will get my nervous system firing again and then I can be out of this rut.

Other than that, everything is going great. I will probably be heading back up north after Regionals (late May). See ya soon!

El Paso

I'm heading to El Paso this weekend for my first 'big' meet of the outdoor season. The last couple weeks I have been in a rut with my technique, but I feel like I'm coming out of it. The break in Austin, Texas also meant that I wasn't throwing as much as I should. Anyways, we will be flying out Friday morning and competing on Saturday. I'm hoping for good things and am getting my confidence back.

I can throw 20 meters fairly easily with a good atmosphere at a meet. The only thing is, I know with more work on my technique and a more confident feel for the throw, I can throw much farther.

Outside of track, life is going smoothly.

I will update you again on Sunday or Monday.

Steve

My Vacation

My thoughts on this past weekend can be summed up by the following words: so-so. It was a rain-soaked day and very stressful. I'm glad for it to be over. Now I'm preparing for my next meet in El Paso, TX on the 14th. On Tuesday, I am leaving for Austin, TX where our team is competing at the Texas Relays. It will be a good getaway for me. I need to get out of the office for a week and get my head clear for the upcoming meets.

But, overall, I'm very optimistic about my throwing. There need to be some minor tweaks in my technique but I'm ready to throw far. I just need to stay in the ring!

So that's it. Sorry. I will update you on the weekend later.

Steve

The Meet

Real quick... It rained all day... Ugh... I ended up throwing in the rain and didn't have to bad of a meet. I threw 64'0" (19.51m) and had a couple fouls over 20m (65'7"). I was really rushing the throw but it still felt ok. It was nice to have a home meet. I still have A LOT more in me. Talk to you again on Monday.

My shot putters both PRed... one by 2 inches... another by 2 feet... 54'10" adn 53'11"!

Steve

First outdoor meet this weekend!

The meet at LSU last week was great. We had a number of PR's on the team. I have 5-6 athletes that are all very close to the NCAA regional mark. If they hit it they will go to the Regional meet in Missouri in late May. I believe that it is only a matter of time for them. There is a shot put guy, a discus guy (who threw 52'10" PR and 165'0" PR this weekend), three discus girls (Jessica Rutherford is still awaiting news on her back to see if she will compete this season), and a hammer girl (who PRed 2 feet in the shot this weekend, 43'10"). Also, our javelin guy continues to lead the nation after yet another PR in a very talented field at LSU. He threw 71.35m (234'1") which is a school record, PR, and ranked #1 in the nation. Pretty impressive. Our team is progressing so well right now and it makes my days much more enjoyable.

But that's not all! I've recently purchased a new vehicle - a 1997 Chevy Cavalier. It is a bit dented up front but it runs very well. I've also started meeting more people in Lake Charles, making much of my evenings much more enjoyable.

I think it is running over to my throwing. I had a great practice today. It started out like last week's practice, with each throw feeling balanced but no finish. On the last couple of throws, I realized my problem. I've been going to fast out of the back of the ring, making it difficult for me to connect with the shot at the finish. I slowed down in the back and bam - 20 meters (65'7"). So things are great. I'm fully prepared to throw this weekend and feel very confident that I can get a couple of throws out over 66'. It is a home meet, so I may be really busy all day but I won't let that bother me.

I've got to go now. Hammer practice! This will be a great weekend. I will post on it on Saturday night at the finish of the event (at least a quick post on the results).

Steve

Going into a rest week...

Hey all!

Sorry that I haven't posted in a while, but there isn't much action going on. I just finished my third week of lifting and it went great. My body is a little shot right now, but I have a rest week this week to let my nervous system get fresh again. I will have two more hard weeks after this and then I will open up at my first meet in El Paso (April 14th). Lifting is going great and I have had some great techinical sessions in the shot.

This past weekend the team went to Lafayette, LA for a track meet. The early events went very well and then the sun must have gotten to everyone in the meet. In all of the later events, the athletes were worn down and performances were poor (for every school too). But in the morning, my athletes were 8 for 8 in PR's! It included two new hammer school records. My hammer throwers are coming along great. My #1 guy is in his second year throwing after I converted him from a 400m runner (like 52 seconds). He threw 49.14m (161'2") which is a huge PR for him. My girl threw well also (171'7") and had a small toe foul that went around 180' (which would have been a regional qualifier).

Oh yeah! I've got my plane ticket to Europe for the summer (Thanks Malcom!). I leave on July 8th (right after my sister's wedding on the 7th) and return on September 8th. I will get to have lots of meets and hopefully make some good money! Either way, I'm sure it will be a blast as I love to travel and see new places. I might also try to make a meet in Zagreb, Croatia shorty before Susan's wedding. It is on July 1st and it is a big big meet. If I can find a cheap ticket I will try to go.

Well, have a great week. I will update you on my throws sessions later in the week.

Steve

2007 NCAA Indoor National Champion Brad Gebauer

This post has nothing to do with me. I had to post about one of my best friends, Brad Gebauer. He had an amazing meet at the NCAA Championships, winning the pole vault with a jump of 18'0". It will put McNeese State University in the top 25 in the nation (maybe top 20). It is very good for our program and even better for Brad. I knew he could do it. He has some great pole vault years ahead of him.

Here are results:
http://www.uark.edu/depts/wathinfo/track/livestat/

Here is an interview:
http://www.flocasts.com/flotrack/nationals2007.php?nationals2007=284

And here is what www.mcneesesports.com had to say:
http://mcneesesports.cstv.com/sports/c-track/spec-rel/030907aaa.html

Congrats B!

Two weeks in...

I just finished my second week of six weeks of tough workouts that will gear me for the outdoor season. My body started wearing down after a long day in the sun on Wednesday. McNeese had a little track meet up at Northwestern LA. Weights have been going good though. It is really nice to have a training partner to push you in the weight room and get you in every morning. I threw once this week because I am beat. The distances were very low but I was only trying to work on my technique. My nervous system is really shot right now. But I feel really good to get 2 solid weeks of work in. I have a really big weight week ahead of me before I get a modified rest week. Then 2 more weeks and outdoor season will be here.

My kids did pretty well on Wednesday - especially the guys. We got two new school records in the men's and women's hammer. My discus thrower had a great day, surpassing his bests from last year in the shot (50'6") and the discus (165'). There was also a PR from my #1 shotputter who threw consistently around 54' with a best of 54'9". They have a long ways to go, but this was a GREAT start for them.

I'll post mid week next week to update you on my strenuous and intense weight workoouts.

Hitting the ground running

With one week of tough lifting underneath my belt, I feel like a new man. I've decided to put in 6 weeks of heavy lifting to get my strength levels and fitness back up before the outdoor season is upon me. I have a new sense of motivation. I don't know if it is from my poor performance at the USA Indoor meet, my overall goal of the year (to be at my best for outdoors), or my new training partner. Whatever it is, I feel good. I'm upset that I was not able to throw what I know I can throw right now. I'm in shape for a big PR. It just didn't happen indoors. But, it is still there and as I get more practices with the shot, good things will happen.

This week one of my hammer throwers started lifting and training with me in the mornings. He is definitely the hardest worker on the team, so it keeps me honest during those 8am workouts. I've also purchased a bike which I ride to work every morning (and ride home every night). It is a 20 minute ride which makes for a very good warm-up. I've also started eating very well which makes me feel more athletic and fit.

My kids have a meet on Wednesday and I pretty optimistic about their first meet. Yesterday, all of my five hammer throwers threw PR's in practice. That is almost unheard of.

Other than that, nothing is new. There is nothing else to do here except stay focused on the training.

If you'd like to know more, you can email me at stevemanz@hotmail.com or call my cell at (5 17) 449-7835.

Not so good...

What can I say? Things didn't go quite as planned. I had an off day on the biggest meet of the indoor season. I felt good going in and my numbers in practice definitely show that I'm in shape to throw a big PR. In the meet this weekend, I can't explain exactly what went wrong. I just didn't have any explosiveness and my technique was different on every single throw. I ended up throwing 19.32m (63'5"), finishing in 8th and two centimeters behind 6th.

Results are here:
http://www.usatf.org/events/2007/USAIndoorTFChampionships/schedule.asp

Although I am disappointed, I will not dwell on this meet. I know that you will have bad meets and good meets, and this just happened to be one of the bad ones. So now I'm looking forward to outdoors. I will hit the weight room hard for about six weeks now and will look to open my outdoor season in mid-April. I still feel like I will have a big season outdoors (and indoors isn't really important anyways).

I now have this meet to motivate me through the tough weight workouts ahead. I'll update you on my practices in about a week.

Steve

The Last Practice of the Indoor Season

The last practice of the indoor season turned out to be the hottest - pun intended. Not only was it 77 degrees and humid, but I also threw a new PR with the 15# shot. (For those who don't know, you gain 2-3 ft for each pound lighter depending on the athlete.) This bodes very well for the indoor meet, and I am excited to throw on Sunday. The practice started out well and I was feeling ready. I had a SB from the half-turn with a 63' throw. I had planned on taking 10 throws from the full position with the first 2 or 3 being used as a warm-up. My fourth and fifth throws were near my best at around 68'. My technique got a little shaky on 6 and 7 because I was too anxious out of the back and really pressing it. On 8 and 9 I tried to slow it down and just hit the finish. My ninth throw was technically great but with no intensity (and 68'). My tenth throw was the same. I had the intensity, but I stepped on the inside of the toeboard, which always throws me off. So there I was, with my ten throws that I had planned on all done. I decided to take one more throw, making sure I was controlled out of the back with a huge explosive finish. Well, I accomplished that and yelled out a cry that started as a normal yell and then became an 'Owww!'. The shot came off my fingers badly, but I still drove through it (which made it worse). :) Anyways, my hand and fingers are fine. And the throw went much farther then my group of 4-5 68' throws. We measured it at 21.22m (69'8"). My old PR with the 15#, from last year, was 68'4" on this same week (I ended up throwing 20.29m [66'7"] at USA Indoors). It was my first (maybe second) real finish of the year (feeling totally connected with the ball and efficient). My other time was my 65'7" from my last meet. So, in summation, I am ready. My body is ready. My mind is ready. Now I just need to put it together in the meet.

I'm off to Houston tonight and will not update until after the meet. We get in on Friday around 1pm and will be sure to hit up Qdoba. On Saturday, I will be watching the weight throw and the pole vault. My friend Brad Gebauer is pole vaulting (he is leading the NCAA right now with a jump of 18'4"). There is an article on us at:
http://mcneesesports.cstv.com/sports/c-track/spec-rel/022107aaa.html.
I throw at 3:30 pm on Sunday so I'll have just enough rest.

I'm Ready!

5 days left...

I got outside and practiced on Monday. The weather was a nice breezy 60 degrees. It is so nice being somewhere warm this time of year. It was great for my training last year not having to stay inside until April. I threw the 15# shot and had my best practice of the year. It still isn't up to par with my practices from last year, but I threw about four times as much leading up to this meet in 2006. My bests from last year with the 15# all came the week before Indoor Nationals (I kinda got burnt out last year after indoors). So this year, I have focused on outdoors and started having normal throwing practices in January as opposed to September. My bests were 53' from stand, 64' from half, and 68' from full. On Monday, I had a 53' stand, 60' half, and a 68' full. I worked on technique for about 10 throws and then tried to bomb six. Each throw of the six was a little bit farther, ending with a 68' and all throws over 66'6". What is weird, is that I have thrown 60'+ from the half turn three or four times with the 16# this year (in meets and intense practices). I still haven't timed up the little ball. Some say you can throw the 16# what you can throw the 15# in practice. Let's hope that is true!

Today, I did about 30 minutes of drills along with some sprints and box jumps. I felt like I could have thrown today, but I need to throw tomorrow. I will treat tomorrow's practice like a meet. With about 2-3 full throw warm-ups and six intense throws. I'll update you on how that went tomorrow. We will be heading out tomorrow night for Houston as our flight leaves at 7:45AM on Friday.

Anyways, I'm still feeling great - actually, better than ever. It is early in my training and this weekend will be a good time to set a precedent for the coming year. Make sure you tune into ESPN2 on Sunday at 4:00 PM ET!!! Or check www.usatf.org for results. You'll hear most of the results before I can get them on here.

Ciao!

One week to go...

Well, we just got back from Houston for the Southland Conference Championships. Although we didn't perform really great, there were some highlights from the meet. Our heptathlete won the meet with 5216 pts (and a 41'8" shot put). One of my throwers, Jessica Rutherford from Ogemaw Heights HS, had over a 2' PR and threw 41'3". And one male shot putter, John Jamail, threw 53'10", which was good for 5th place.

Right now I'm enjoying a nice relaxing Sunday. The past week has been kinda stressful but I was able to get in some good practices. On Tuesday I threw the 15# shot. I haven't been able to connect with it this year yet, but I had about 5 throws over 67'. On Thursday, I got in a very short practice session at the Houston track. My technique is getting better and I am feeling more balanced each practice. I will practice next on Monday morning to prepare for the big meet this coming weekend. I throw on Sunday, the 25th of February at 3:30pm. My friend and fellow 'McNeeser' Brad Gebauer is pole vaulting on Saturday. The meet will be televised on ESPN2 from 4-6pm on Sunday. You might be able to see me in the background. :)

Well, I'll try to update you on how my practices are going before I leave for Boston on Friday morning. I feel very good about the meet. I am seeded 5th out of only 8 athletes going into the meet. It is a small meet this year and leaves the door open for good oportunities. Here is the entry list:

Christian Cantwell 21.88m (71'9")
Dan Taylor 21.57m (70'9")
Reese Hoffa 21.31m (69'10")
Sheldon Battle 20.18m (66'2")
Steve Manz 19.98m (65'7")
Vincent Mosca 19.71m (64'8")
John Godina 19.25m (63'2")
Rhuben Williams 19.07m (62'7")

Well, I will report back soon. Wish me luck!

Indoor Season so far...

Since I have competed for almost a month now, I figured I would update everyone on how the season is going so far. I headed into this season with the best fall training I've ever had. My strength levels are at an all-time high and I am optimistic of the season to come. I got my first real taste of international competition this past summer and I want more!

Well, I started throwing in practice again in December. I kept the practices short and once a week. I just wanted to have fun and get a feel for it. The last time I touched a shot was in July in Slovenia. I came back from Michigan in early January and started 'real' practice on January 8th. Needless to say, things did not go well, as the weather was very cold and our indoor facility is inadequate for a good practice session. I opened up on January 13th at LSU with a throw of 19.30m (63'4"). I had only had one practice since my return so I wanted to make the meet more of a practice than anything. It was my best opener so far, topping my opener last year of 18.99m (62'3"). Then the weather got really cold. As the nation was hit with a huge cold front, I was only able to get in one throwing session in two weeks. I threw again at LSU with a great atmosphere and some claps from the crowd. I was able to throw 19.88m (65'2") and had a pretty big foul at 67'6". The next week, at Houston, I threw 19.52m (64'1") on pure adrenaline. There were no big fouls and my technique was still very shaky. I managed to throw that far with intensity. I'm losing the shot off to the right very badly as a result of poor technique out of the back of the ring.

So now we are on to this past week. The weather was great! I got in two throwing sessions, focusing mainly on cleaning up my technique and balance. They were frustrating sessions but I am starting to figure things out. I traveled to Houston (without the McNeese team that I coach) for their All-Comers Meet. I felt very good about the meet. I did not have the responsibilities of driving a van at 6am or coaching all day before I threw. I had a nice meet opener of 19.38m (63'7"), along with throws of 19.59m (64'3") and 19.98m (65'7"). My technique was poor on all but the farthest and I was a little too intense. On the 19.98m throw, I stayed balanced and controlled. It was not an intense throw, but much more techniquely sound. I am very excited about my throwing so far. I feel that once I get balanced and in control, I will be able to see some very far throws. Next week I will be in Houston again, coaching my athletes in the Southland Conference Championships. In two weeks the USA Indoor Championships are to take place in Boston. I am peaking for this meet as it is the last one of the indoor season for me.

Welcome!

Hi and welcome to my blog!!! This website will serve as a resource to let everyone know how my meets are going and what I am up to. I will post here on my upcoming track meets, results, training, and more... Please check back for more updates as they should occur weekly.

I know that it might be somewhat rudimentary, but it is easy and inexpensive - a big plus for a struggling shot putter in the U.S.! Feel free to leave comments and I will reply if need be. Also, feel free to contact me at stevemanz@hotmail.com at any time.

Thanks for your support,

Steve