Hitting the Mark

Competing in a weight-throwing track and field event, Sarasota residents prove mastering a sport is possible at any age.

By Jen Blanco
| 6:00 a.m. March 31, 2016

Sarasota residents Bob Arello and Gary Dixon train with Throws Florida Coach Andy Vince, center, in preparation for masters throwing competitions.

Sarasota
Sports

+Meet the Coach

Andy Vince

Throws and Jumps Coach, Florida Track Club

A native of England, Vince played rugby and soccer before turning to throwing when he was 14 years old. From that point on, Vince only wanted to throw.

“I think it was the thrill of throwing heavy things and competing,” Vince said. “I was a smaller thrower, so it was always fun to beat the big guys. I was under the impression that the bigger they are, the harder they fall.”

Four years later, Vince sent the British under-20 shot put record with a 60-foot heave. He went on to compete for Murray State University, where he set records in the shot put and discus — the former of which still stands.

Vince competed in the British Championships when he was 22 years old before returning to the United Kingdom. He spent nearly nine years as the technical director for Great Britain’s throwers, preparing athletes and coaches for the Olympics.

Today, Vince trains close to 20 athletes at the National Training Center in Clermont. While Vince coaches Masters athletes, the majority of his time is spent working with high schoolers in various track disciplines across the state, including Cardinal Mooney thrower Natalie Roth, who attended a March 19 throwing camp.

Last year, Vince saw four of his athletes win state championships and is looking to crown five or six state champions this year.

“It’s a very strong group of kids that are involved,” Vince said. “They all work hard to get to their goals, and each year is exciting.”

As the clock ticks toward 5 p.m., Hydrograss Technologies CEO Bob Arello shreds his slacks and polo shirt for shorts and a singlet.

Arello steps out the side door of his Sarasota office and heads toward the far corner of the property, where he pulls out a hammer — a 16-pound circular weight dangling from a metal rope nearly four feet in length — from a rusty metal box.

The Oytster Bay resident steps up onto an adjacent cement platform and positions the handle in his right hand, the hammer’s weight resting on the cement below. Slowly, Arello lifts the hammer off the ground and completes a pair of 360-degree turns before sending the hammer soaring nearly 165 feet in the air.

A former thrower at Utah State University, Arello picked up throwing again nine years ago after watching a USA Track and Field Masters throwing competition. Looking to get back into the game, he bought a hammer and went to a competition. More than two decades after his college days, Arello's regular strength training regimen allowed him to get right back into the sport.

At one of his first Masters competitions, Arello met Andy Vince, an internationally recognized throwing coach working with the Florida Track Club at the National Training Center in Clermont. Arello continued to embrace his return to track and field by training with Vince, attending throwing camps and competing on a routine basis.

He caught back on quickly. By 2011, he became a world indoor champion in weight throw in 2011, adding a shot put title in 2014. Competing in the men’s 55-59 age division, Arello won the super weight throw, hammer throw and weight throw during a February meet at the National Training Center. A desire for victory isn't the only thing driving his success.

"It's a high for me to get motivated during competition," Arello said. "We have fun and it’s really good camaraderie. It’s not just about throwing. It’s a really good group of guys — although we’re always trying to prove something.”

Arello trains and competes alongside another local in his age group, Brookside Middle School throwing coach Gary Dixon. Dixon, a former thrower for East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania, often uses Arello’s property for practice. The two met through Vince and have been fortunate enough to travel across the country together for competition.

Dixon typically trains three days a week, focusing mainly on hammer and weight tossing. Like Arello, Dixon has a throwing circle on his property that he uses for private practice sessions. Each session lasts between 60 and 90 minutes.

At the end of a practice, Dixon will complete a series of throws somewhere between 80% and 90% full strength, depending on how he feels. Despite their passion, age remains a limiting factor for both competitors.

“Aches and pains of a 58-year-old dictate if I have to cut the session short, since it takes a bit more time to recover from injuries these days,” Dixon said. “The problem is, I have a 20-year-old mind and a 58-year-old body. I really have to concentrate on not pushing too hard. … Live to throw another day.”

Arello throws at least twice a week, typically on Tuesdays and Saturdays. He incorporates other workouts into his routine, such as Olympic style lifting, sprints with weight sleds, tire flipping or swinging 30-pound sledgehammers.

“It’s a full-time job,” Arello said.

Over the next few months, Dixon will gradually increase his training to at least five days a week in preparation for the USATF Masters National Throws Championships Aug. 6 and Aug. 7, in Lisle, Ill.

During that event, Dixon will compete in the throws pentathlon, which includes hammer, shot put, javelin, discus and weight throw. He also plans to compete in the ultra weight pentathlon, which includes five weight throws ranging from 25 to 300 pounds.

In addition to competing against one another, Dixon and Arello have been fortunate enough to compete against current and former national and world champions, as well as former Olympians.

“We all come from diverse backgrounds, but we all have the love of throwing,” Dixon said. “We help each other and cheer just as loud when a competitor throws a big throw, a bomb, or betters their personal best — or even breaks an American or world record.”

For Arello and Dixon, the biggest focus is making sure their bodies remain intact. The two throwers have to train their bodies differently now that they are older, acknowledging the simple fact that they don’t function the same way they once did.

Although Dixon hasn't suffered a major injury, Arello has endured several during the past nine years — including muscle pulls, tendinitis, elbow and shoulder issues, pinched nerves and an inflamed Achilles, just to name a few.

“I just work around the injuries until they heal," Arello said. “The throwing weights change every 10 years, so my goal is to keep my distances almost equal from the beginning of the age group until I graduate to the next.”

The throwing duo is slated to compete in five competitions throughout the country through this summer. Under Vince’s guidance, Arello and Dixon attempt to strike a balance between maximum effort and a limited amount of strain.

“You have to train smarter,” Vince said. “It’s a different challenge, but it’s ultimately about these guys. I’m just trying to the support the work that they do.”