Standing out is difficult in the Block household.
Among five brothers who all measure taller than 6 feet 3 inches, the 6-4, 235-pound Dan Block ranks somewhere in the middle of the group.
Such a household was a training ground of sorts for competing against the likes of thick, muscled teenagers during his high school track and field career at Lake Park in Roselle. The fourth Block brother was not always the biggest, but he forced people to take notice.
In the last two months, Block set all-time Illinois records in the discus and shot put and won his second state championships in both events. His best discus throw of 208 feet 11 inches ranks third in the nation this year (through last weekend).
He will leave for the University of Kentucky on a scholarship with the attention-grabbing title of the greatest high school thrower in Illinois history. For that, Block stood above all the rest in being selected as the Chicago Tribune/WGN-Ch. 9 Athlete of the Year.
“He’s brought this program up to another level,” longtime Lake Park coach Bob Nihells said. “He has built a foundation that everybody wants to aspire to. As far as Illinois is concerned, I think Danny has helped put us on the map and show them we can throw in the Midwest. We don’t have the weather that they have on the East and West Coasts, but we can still throw here.”
Long before he began to let the discus fly, Block attempted to take flight himself.
Skateboarding was his first love, and Cathy Block would close the blinds on the windows of her home so she couldn’t watch her son dare to perform new tricks on his self-constructed ramps in their cul-de-sac. Upon one of his first meetings with Nihells at a brother’s practice, Block, arm molded in a cast, declared that skateboarding — not throwing — was going to be his meal ticket.
Unforeseen to both, his riding was building the skills that years later would translate to the discus ring. His family is certain the balance, explosiveness and repetition of motion used in skate parks added to Block’s arsenal of abilities in the field.
Simply put, Block found a release in skateboarding, which he continued despite objections from a worried Nihells, not to mention Block’s increasing body mass making it difficult to keep a board in one piece for very long.
“I think they complement each other,” Block said. “The shot you only do one thing — you spin around and throw it. But skateboarding, you can do what you want. I think it’s what has kept me going. It’s relaxing.”
In spite of his early devotion to skateboarding, his interest in throwing grew, helped in part by the burgeoning careers of brothers Tom and Scott. The 6-8 Tom was a state qualifier in the shot put in 2001, and Scott won a state title in 2003. Dan spent his free time at their meets and absorbed their teachings. He began dabbling in throwing himself at their Junior Olympic competitions in the summers.
Scott, who went on to become an All-American at Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, said he knew early on that Dan was a natural thrower. Soon, the rest of Illinois would know too.
Calling a 6-4, 235-pound teenager average seems inaccurate, but insert Block in a line of elite weight men and that’s likely the case. The national high school record-holder in the discus, Mason Finley of Colorado, who threw 236-6 this season, is 4 inches taller and nearly 100 pounds heavier than Block.
“He makes Danny look like a boy,” Nihells said. “[Block’s] not muscle-bound. He looks like a normal kid. If he were walking down the street, you wouldn’t look at him and think he owns Illinois high school records in shot put and discus. You’d say, ‘What? That kid?'”
That kid was especially tall and lanky when he entered high school, but he still strolled into Lake Park’s indoor shot-put room on his first day of practice and out-threw everybody. Discus was a different story. Block maintains he was terrible when he started, and therefore hated the event until the movements “started clicking” a few meets into the season.
“If I do a sport and I’m not good at it, I never want to do it again,” Block said. “I just hate doing stuff I’m not good at. That’s why I hated the discus at first. In basketball, if we’re playing horse and I lose, I’m not going to let him or myself leave until I win.”
He began to win on a large scale by his sophomore year, when, while still weighing less than 200 pounds, he captured his first state title in the discus and placed fourth in the shot put. At that point, his visions of state records blossomed, and the phone numbers of 25 Division I colleges found their way to a list on the Block family’s refrigerator.
By May of his junior year, Block had broken the state’s all-time discus record with a throw of 201-8. His first state title in the shot put and a second-place finish in the discus followed, as did a trip to the IAAF World Junior Track and Field Championships in Poland, where he placed 14th in the shot.
Any size deficiency had been overcome by speed and athleticism that might have made for an excellent basketball player — and a mentality that was as hard to crack as a shot itself.
A matter of seconds is all it takes for throwing titles to be won or lost, for records to be broken or stand untouched. If Block has a gift, his family and team say, it’s his ability to focus completely for those vital few moments, then immediately move on to the next throw.
“I try to learn from every throw,” Block said. “I know there are always more throws to come, so I don’t let one bother me.”
Cathy and Randy Block call their son “internal” and watched in wonder numerous times as he competed unfazed by the magnitude of his circumstances.
Between throws, a perpetually smiling Block — who teammate Jordan Davis called “a goofball” — has been said to make comments about the weather and abnormally oversized earthworms, playfully toss objects at teammates and casually converse with family members. The result, Nihells said, is that he never lets a bad mark ruin his next attempt.
“With a lot of kids, they’re really obsessed with their surroundings and what’s going on around them and how the other throwers are throwing,” Scott Block said. “Danny shuts all that out. He’s able to throw his throw and not push it too hard to compete too much. It takes a lot of years to develop that way to compete. That sets him apart.”
The approach set him apart the last weekend in May, when he won his second straight shot put title and overtook Huntley’s Marcus Popenfoose in the discus finals to win the championship and set the state-meet record of 205-8.
Block, who is competing this weekend at the Nike Outdoor Nationals in Greensboro, N.C., also hopes it sets him apart as he moves on to Lexington, Ky., the home of 2008 NCAA discus champion Rashaud Scott. He’s thrilled at the thought of competing in the warm weather that accompanies Southeastern Conference meets and hopes the added practice time in those climates results in even bigger throws.
The greatest high school thrower in Illinois history is ready to see how he measures up against the rest of the nation.
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The Block file
Name: Dan Block
Age: 17
Height, weight: 6-4, 235
High school: Lake Park
Track and field: Set discus state record of 208 feet, 11 inches; shot put state record of 66-3; and discus state meet record of 205-8 this season. Won four career state titles. His discus mark ranks third in the nation this season.
College: Kentucky.
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Athletes of the Year %% YR Athlete SCHOOL
2009 Dan Block Lake Park
2008 Garrett Goebel Montini
2007 Nick Nasti Plano
2006 John Dergo Morris
2005 Alexandria Anderson Morgan Park
2004 Candace Parker Naperville Central
2003 Steve Walker Lockport
2002 Mary DeScenza Rosary
2001 Matt Roth Willowbrook
2000 Matt Lottich New Trier
1999 Jon Schweighardt Wheaton Warrenville South
1998 MaryAnne Kelley Fremd
1997 Shakedia Jones Waukegan
1996 T.J. Williams Mt. Carmel
1995 Tai Streets Thornton
1994 Terry Zemaitis Downers South
1993 Joe Williams Mt. Carmel
1992 Jennie Driscoll St. Francis
1991 Cliff Floyd Thornwood
1990 T.J. Dortch Mundelein
1989 Joey Gilbert Andrew
1988 Dana Miroballi Wheeling
1987 Kent Graham Wheaton North
1986 Mike Morrison Deerfield
1985 Katie Meier Wheaton Central
1984 Nancy Reno Glenbard West
1983 Eric Kumerow Oak Park %% ———–
ckane@tribune.com
Watch a feature on Block on WGN-Ch. 9’s “Instant Replay,” which begins at 9:40 p.m. Sunday. And find a photo gallery and video of Block at chicagotribune.com/prepsplus
