Some guys get into weight events because they want to look like Arnold Schwartzenegger. A noble few want to be Al Oerter. Paul Marshall just didn`t want to veg out in front of the TV.
His coaches at Naperville North High School didn`t want him to, either. They looked at him and saw a big kid who was well-cut-the quintessential football player. But what to do with him in the off-season?
He could always do the shot put, they thought. After all, that`s what football players usually do in the springtime, even if playing football doesn`t necessarily mean instant success in track. Just because a guy can stop a receiver by hurling his body at him doesn`t mean he can heave a lead ball well.
Some do just fine, though. Some even throw a 57 foot-2 inch shot and place fifth in the state, which is, of course, exactly what Marshall did last year as a junior.
”I`ve got to get 60 (feet) this year,” Marshall said. ”This is what it`s going to take to win state.”
Marshall may have been worried about being bored, but he doesn`t suffer from any lack of ambition. He was all-state this year as a rush linebacker, which earned him a scholarship to Illinois. The icing on the cake would be a state championship in the shot put, something which, according to his coach, is not unreasonable.
”Paul is extremely talented,” said Stan Gruszka, who coaches weights.
”He`s obviously Big 10 caliber. He`s got tremendous lifting ability, which has helped him.”
It should. Marshall spends nearly two hours a day lifting weights. At 6-feet 4 inches and 230 pounds, he can clear 270 pounds in a lift and he can bench 310 pounds.
”I started lifting the summer before my sophomore year,” Marshall said, ”and I could see a major change in my performance.”
As a freshman, Marshall threw the shot 42 feet. As a newly bulked-up sophomore, he threw 50 feet.
”I was just an everyday kid until I started lifting. My sophomore year, I started concentrating more and I started to excel. That`s when I knew I had some ability,” Marshall said.
Concentration is a large part of the success of any track athlete. Without a team to depend upon, an athlete has only himself. He has to make up for his own shortcomings. That`s where the mind games come in.
”Over the last two years, there`s been a lot of pressure,” Marshall said. ”So I don`t psych myself up. That just puts more pressure on you. I just stay focused. That`s probably more potent. These guys start sweating when they start thinking.”
Despite his size, Marshall is one of the smaller athletes doing weight events.
”There are a lot of guys who are bigger and stronger by far,” he said.
”It comes down to intimidation. Some guys will get up there and throw really short when you know they can throw longer. They`re just trying to get you to lower your guard. Other guys have a look in their eye, and when you see it, you think, `Hey-this guy`s a lot more serious than I am.` ”
And what does Marshall do?
”I try to be one of the first up to throw and get a good throw in first,” he explained. ”I don`t really try to intimidate.”
Marshall is not a one-event athlete. He also throws the discus, even though he doesn`t like it as much.
”He`s got an awful lot of ability in it,” Gruszka said. ”He`s gone 160 feet in practice.”
Marshall does plan on competing in collegiate track, though it will have to wait until he has settled in to his class load.
In the meantime, it`s one meet at a time until graduation, and in between those Marshall will try to alleviate any pressure with his social life.
”Fun is not a factor in Naperville,” he said. ”I`ll just go out with the guys-we`re not vandals or anything. We just go out and have a good time.” Anything, except sit in front of the TV and veg.
