By Christina Teller
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
With the shot put firmly gripped in her right hand, she
confidently walks toward the throwing circle. One foot in front of
the other, her eyes focused on the cement inlay, Christina Tolson
mechanically eases into her throwing position.
Within the blink of an eye, her body has rotated 360 degrees and
the ironball has been launched 58 feet in the air, all because of
her finely tuned physical mechanics.
“See how much height you can give it with the legs, there
like that! That was close to 58 feet. That would be a big throw at
the trials,” UCLA throwing coach Art Venegas says as he
watches Tolson during practice.
The key elements to a good thrower are skill, balance and
strength, especially in the legs.
“It’s hard to be a thrower,” Venegas explains.
“You have to be a good lifter, as well as a good
thrower.”
“(Christina) works hard at all facets, that’s what I
think makes her so solid as a thrower.”
With the Olympic trials just around the corner, Tolson is as
focused as ever and ready to show the nation’s best what
she’s really capable of.
With a frustrating meet at the NCAA championships in early June
behind her, she is looking to avenge disappointment caused by her
fifth place finish in the shot put and the hammer throw.
Going into that meet, Tolson sat atop the lists of shot-putters,
but fell short when it came time to compete, placing fifth with her
mark of 52-9 1/2.
“I need to be more focused than I was at NCAAs,”
Tolson said. “Something happened at NCAAs, and I need to
change whatever it was.”
She looks to the trials as another chance to redeem herself.
“That’s something I need to put behind because I
need to go on,” Tolson said. “I want to show them what
I can do.”
To watch her compete and practice is to observe the embodiment
of intense focus.
“She is a very focused and very serious person,”
women’s head coach Jeanette Bolden said. “She’s
been to the big meets, and she knows what she wants.”
It is this intensity that has carried her through an eight-year
career as a shot-putter, and has also carried her through
transferring to UCLA during her third year of college.
Competing for two years at Cal State Northridge, Tolson got
collegiate and NCAA meet experience there. It was when her former
coach, Candy Roberts, decided to join the Orangemen in Syracuse
that Tolson chose to become a Bruin.
“I always wanted to come here,” Tolson said.
“I just didn’t know that it would actually
happen.”
Because Roberts was also coached by Venegas at UCLA,
Tolson’s transition was even easier.
“I have my own style, and because she was coached by one
of my ex-throwers, it helped with learning technique,”
Venegas said.
And at UCLA, Tolson’s character immediately made an impact
on her Bruin teammates.
“She sets a good example by doing all of her work,”
freshman teammate Cari Soong said. “She does it all with as
much effort as she can. It makes us all a little bit
better.”
“We all have our ups and downs and whether she’s up
or down, it’s all the same, she helps out in any way she
can,” teammate Seilala Sua said.
While Tolson’s presence alone motivates her teammates, she
has the advantage of competing for two years before coming to
UCLA.
And she came ready to compete.
“She knows that no time is being wasted. All the growing
pains that athletes go through, she went through at
Northridge,” Bolden said.
“She knows that she’s on center stage now, and when
it comes to practice and competing, she turns it on,” Bolden
added.
It’s this seasoned quality that has carried Tolson through
her season of ups and downs, and will help maintain her focus in
one of the biggest meets of her life.
Struggles like being named Pac-10 athlete of the week after the
Mt. Sac Relays, where she qualified for the trials with her throw
of 56-10 3/4, but then not placing as high as she would have liked
at the NCAA meet have given Tolson a level head.
Her discipline gives her what it takes to succeed in the shot
put.
“This event is really hard. With the discus and the
javelin throw, the wind can help you, but here you’ve really
got to muscle it out,” Venegas explained.
Competing in not only the shot put but the hammer throw as well,
Tolson is up against the best throwers in the world for two days of
competition in the stifling Sacramento heat.
Despite her success in the hammer throw throughout the 2000
outdoor season, including the 2000 Pac-10 title after her 208-5
launch, Tolson insists that the shot put is where her chances are
best.
“I’ve got a better chance in the shot,” Tolson
said. “Coach says there are places open.”
Her lifetime best, currently at 56-11, is just inches away from
where she needs to be to do well, according to Venegas.
But because of Tolson’s hard work, and because she is an
“explosive” performer, she’s got a shot,
according to Venegas. “She’s very driven; she just
doesn’t quit. One bad meet won’t take her out of
it.”
With Tolson and teammate Chaniqua Ross ready to storm through
the shot put event, the competition may have been underestimating
the ability of these two.
“Their marks haven’t really been very high this
year,” Venegas said. “Even at 56-11, the top girls
aren’t going to be very scared about it, but I think that if
they really catch fire, they can both PR and get a lifetime
best.”
Competing in the Olympic Trials means accomplishing a lifelong
dream for Christina Tolson since she started competing in track and
field.
“It was a dream, but I didn’t think it would be a
reality,” Tolson said. “I always wanted to go to the
Olympics, I just didn’t know that it would come so soon
though. I’m just trying to make it.”
“I’m excited. I need to relax right now because
I’m overwhelmed. I can’t believe I’ve actually
made it to the trials,” Tolson added.
This is the mind-set that she competes with. She knows what she
wants, she knows what she has to do, and she is ready to give it
everything she has.
“I’m going for the mark to make it there. If
anything, PR-ing and doing the best that I’ve done this year
is what I’m hoping for,” Tolson added.
With her teammates and coach looking and cheering her on, Tolson
spins again to launch another awesome throw.
“There it is, that’s it, that’s the form right
there. With this form, you can throw better with more pressure. Now
with more pressure, the better you’ll throw, and that’s
what you need,” Venegas explains.
In Sacramento she will be in a similar throwing circle to the
one at Drake Stadium, with her shot put confidently clutched in her
right hand. The difference will be that depending upon where the
ball lands, Tolson will be rewarded not only by the praise of her
coach, but possibly with a spot in Sydney.