Jared Hunt, a senior thrower from Charlotte, NC, was recently named Conference Track and Field Athlete of the Week by the Centennial Conference for his performance at the Alan Connie Shamrock Invitational. Hunt took home first place with a throw of 15.53 meters, a Swarthmore record and an accomplishment that came in as the fourth best shot put mark in Division III. The Garnet are back in action at the West Chester Invite on Saturday, April 6.
Ping Promrat: What has been your most memorable athletic experience at Swarthmore?
Jared Hunt: Well, this is the most memorable because it’s embarrassing, but my freshman year at the outdoor conference meet I almost hit someone with a shot put. I was still doing the rotational technique at this point and really over-rotated out the back during a throw and sent a shot put into the crowd of onlookers. Luckily it didn’t hit anyone but I still remember the looks on people’s faces quite well.
Ping Promrat: How does it feel to break record after record at Swarthmore?
Jared Hunt: It’s really amazing but it honestly feels kinda unreal. Like during the meets I’m too focused on throwing and trying to remember the long list of cues and reminders I have to think about before every throw to really think about or appreciate what I’m doing. And then when the meet’s over and I have time to think about it I’m overjoyed for a little bit and then I just start to think about the smaller mistakes I made and what I need to do to fix them and then I just get hungry to compete again and perform even better. Hopefully, when the seasons over I’ll have the time and ability to look back at things and truly appreciate what I’ve been able to achieve. It has also made me feel so incredibly lucky to have the amazing, hard-working coaches that I have especially Coach Lauren [Lucci] who has played a tremendously large role in my breaking these records.
Ping Promrat: How did you get involved in track and field as a kid?
Jared Hunt: I got introduced to track and field mostly through my older brother. He was a hurdler growing and a very good one at that, so good that the coaches made me come out for the track team when I got into the 7th grade. And uh well hurdles weren’t quite my thing so I tried throwing.
Ping Promrat: If you could change one thing about Swarthmore, what would it be and why?
Jared Hunt: I’m being selfish here, but I’d really love to have a hammer cage and circle on campus and not have to travel to Widener to practice it. Hammer is a fun event and one I really struggle at so it would be great if we were able to practice it more often.
Ping Promrat: What are your personal and team goals for the rest of the season?
Jared Hunt: My personal goal for the rest of the season is to make it to nationals. I missed out on indoor nationals this winter by one c.m. and in the moment it was devastating but it also has been a powerful motivating force for me. I came so close to it before so I know I can do it, I just have to continue to work for it. My goal for the team is less explicitly defined I just want everyone to have a successful year whatever that means to them. AND I’d also love to beat Haverford at conferences this year.
Ping Promrat: Advice to any of the first years on the team?
Jared Hunt: My advice would be pretty simple, just to keep working and to keep pushing yourself in practice and also to keep your head up when you might not be progressing the way you want. My freshman year the farthest shot put throw I had was 11.82 m. and I did not throw past eleven m. in some of my meets and it was incredibly frustrating. Working really hard and not seeing the progress that you want is frustrating and it can make it really hard to come out to practice every day or to push out that last set of squats or to sprint that last race when you’re tired. But when things finally click or you have the meet of your life it becomes so rewarding to look back at those tough times and think about how far you’ve come and how much you’ve overcome.
Jared Hunt, a senior thrower from Charlotte, N.C, was recently named Conference Track and Field Athlete of the Week by the Centennial Conference for his performance at the Alan Connie Shamrock Invitational. Hunt took home first place with a throw of 15.53 meters, a Swarthmore record and an accomplishment that came in as the fourth best shot put mark in Division III. The Garnet are back in action at the West Chester Invite on Saturday, April 6.
Ping Promrat: What has been your most memorable athletic experience at Swarthmore?
Jared Hunt: Well, this is the most memorable because it’s embarrassing, but my freshman year at the outdoor conference meet I almost hit someone with a shot put. I was still doing the rotational technique at this point and really over-rotated out the back during a throw and sent a shot put into the crowd of onlookers. Luckily it didn’t hit anyone but I still remember the looks on people’s faces quite well.
Ping Promrat: How does it feel to break record-after-record at Swarthmore?
Jared Hunt: It’s really amazing but it honestly feels kinda unreal. Like during the meets I’m too focused on throwing and trying to remember the long list of cues and reminders I have to think about before every throw to really think about or appreciate what I’m doing. And then when the meets over and I have time to think about it I’m overjoyed for a little bit and then I just start to think about the smaller mistakes I made and what I need to do to fix them and then I just get hungry to compete again and perform even better. Hopefully, when the seasons over I’ll have the time and ability to look back at things and truly appreciate what I’ve been able to achieve. It has also made me feel so incredibly lucky to have the amazing, hard-working coaches that I have especially Coach Lauren [Lucci] who has played a tremendously large role in my breaking these records.
Ping Promrat: How did you get involved in track and field as a kid?
Jared Hunt: I got introduced to track and field mostly through my older brother. He was a hurdler growing and a very good one at that, so good that the coaches made me come out for the track team when I got into the 7th grade. And uh well hurdles weren’t quite my thing so I tried throwing.
Ping Promrat: If you could change one thing about Swarthmore, what would it be and why?
Jared Hunt: I’m being selfish here, but I’d really love to have a hammer cage and circle on campus and not have to travel to Widener to practice it. Hammer is a fun event and one I really struggle at so it would be great if we were able to practice it more often.
Ping Promrat: What are your personal and team goals for the rest of the season?
Jared Hunt: My personal goal for the rest of the season is to make it to nationals. I missed out on indoor nationals this winter by 1cm and in the moment it was devastating but it also has been a powerful motivating force for me. I came so close to it before so I know I can do it, I just have to continue to work for it. My goal for the team is less explicitly defined I just want everyone to have a successful year whatever that means to them. AND I’d also love to beat Haverford at conferences this year.
Ping Promrat: Advice to any of the first-years on the team?
Jared Hunt: My advice would be pretty simple, just to keep working and to keep pushing yourself in practice and also to keep your head up when you might not be progressing the way you want. My freshman year the farthest shot put throw I had was 11.82m and I did not throw past 11m in some of my meets and it was incredibly frustrating. Working really hard and not seeing the progress that you want is frustrating and it can make it really hard to come out to practice every day or to push out that last set of squats or to sprint that last race when you’re tired. But when things finally click or you have the meet of your life it becomes so rewarding to look back at those tough times and think about how far you’ve come and how much you’ve overcome.
