Time to hammer out a new record in Michigan

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

One hundred and six years ago, a high school junior from Lansing, Michigan named Art Kohler went to an interscholastic meet in Ann Arbor and threw the hammer 170 feet, 3 inches.

That was 1909. The President was William H. Taft. The penny had Lincoln's image on it for the first time and 22 cents per hour was the average workers' wage. Explorers reached the North Pole. There were only 46 states. .

Kohler’s name continues to stick around. He remains the Michigan all-time state leader in the hammer and his record is the oldest for all track and field events still contested today across the U.S.

The hammer is an Olympic event that was once a staple of the U.S. medal count. American men won the gold medal six times in a row between 1900 and 1928. It’s also an NCAA event and a USATF event.

In the early part of the 20^th century, participation in the hammer was widespread. The parameters of the event may have been a little bit different, but in states such as Michigan it was a championship event at the high school level.

By the 1930s, the hammer event slowly began to fade away. Concerns over safety and the standardization of facilities and equipment that were cost prohibitive caused the hammer to disappear in many states for decades. Records, like those belonging to Kohler, were ignored – as if sealed in a time capsule.

And yet, here we are in 2015.

The hammer flourishes in Rhode Island, where it is a central part of the track and field culture, and a few other outposts in Georgia, California, New York and Washington. But committed throwers across the country, many of them calculating how an extra skill might be a factor in obtaining a college scholarship, have found ways to train and compete in the hammer.

The hammer is a USATF Junior Championships event. It has been part of the National Scholastic Athletic Foundation (NSAF) championships since 1994. And the data collected by hammer statistician Bob Gourley shows that participation numbers have been growing, and spreading, over the past decade.

Last year, 28 states were represented in the Gourley List, which is a national list of boys and girls weight throw (indoor) and hammer performances produced every week during the season.

Michigan was not one of the 28 states.

Norm Zylstra is one of the top throws coaches in the state and currently works with the throwers at East Kentwood High School.

Zylstra said there are some good reasons why the hammer hasn’t made a significant reappearance in Michigan.

“The biggest problem is facilities,” Zylstra said. “We don’t have any cages to throw the hammer in. The net that we have won’t stop a hammer. The handle might get caught in it but the ball would go right through. It’s such a mess of liability issues.”

But the issue at hand, of a 106-year-old record, is also something of a bitter pill to swallow.

“If I had a kid that was all about (the hammer) I could squeeze it in,” Zylstra said.

Across the country in states where hammer is not an officially sanctioned event, athletes and coaches have found ways to train and compete, on their own or in clubs. They practice turns and footwork. They get access to small college facilities. They link up with other throwers and put together throws-only meets.

Martin Bingisser, a passionate hammer advocate who operates the web site hmmrmedia.com, would love to see the number of participants continue to build.

“The event shouldn’t be neglected,” Bingisser said. “I believe it’s an issue of fairness. Plus, it’s a fun, cool event.”

There are other states with musty old hammer records. West Virginia’s record dates to 1923, Maine’s goes back to 1929. Pennsylvania’s record was set by Dick Wick in 1936 (195-0) but this record is in danger of falling thanks to Matt Slagus of North Pocono PA, who threw 182-10 as a freshman last year.

In a variety of other states – Hawaii, North Dakota, Mississippi – hammer at the high school level seems to have never taken flight.

Someone in Michigan can break the Kohler record.

Gourley, who coaches the US#1 and 2 boys hammer throwers at Barrington High School in Rhode Island, estimates that a good thrower should be able to throw 170-3 – or farther – as a freshman.

It just takes the will and commitment to make it happen.

“It hasn’t really hit (here) yet,” said Jeff Hollobaugh, a track historian and record-keeper in Michigan. “In 1998 the weight throw started for indoors. But there have only been a couple of cases where kids have fallen in love with it and bought the equipment.”

A Record That Spans A Century

Some time ago, Gourley bought a century-old hammer on Ebay. The patent number showed that it was manufactured by Spaulding in the 1890s and it would have been similar to the one that Kohler used at Ann Arbor on May 21, 1909.

“The good ones today have a ball bearing swivel in them,” Gourley explained. “This (old one) used a C clamp and sort of a long thin nail that went through the ball. It had a groove where the clamp fit.”

Cement circles weren’t introduced until the 1950s, meaning that Kohler probably threw from a chalked circle in a field of grass. There were no cages. The sector may have been as large as 90 degrees. (Today, the sector is 34.92 degrees to minimize the space that is required as well as for safety purposes).

Kohler went on to throw the hammer at the University of Michigan, where he became the captain of the track team. From there he went to work in the publishing business and became the manager of the Saturday Evening Post. He died in 1975.

The obstacles to breaking Kohler’s record are real. The state association is one of the most stringent in the country. The spring is short and the time to teach shot put and discus is limited, let alone a non-sanctioned event like hammer. Facilities and coaching expertise are in short supply. And when Michigan throwers do extend their seasons to USATF meets or New Balance Nationals they do not typically pick up an extra event – like Quinn Dawson of Saline did in 2008 when he threw 161-10. (Brooke Pleger, also of Saline, owns the Michigan girls hammer record of 155-2 from 2010. She has gone on to Bowling Green and over the weekend threw an NCAA-leading mark of 222-4).

Kohler’s record sits there, like low-hanging fruit. Who wouldn’t want to pluck a 106-year-old record?

“We have a summer club, so (challenging the record) would happen in our area,” Zylstra said. “Bringing this record to light should help. I’m already starting to get fired up just thinking about it.”

Go get it, Michigan.