Ewen providing impressive spin on throwing records

Arizona State junior becomes first in Pac-12 to sweep shot put, discus and hammer throw titles, only female in country to rank top 10 nationally in all three

By Hannah Bonnie for DyeStat

Arizona State junior Maggie Ewen continued her dominance this season during the Pac-12 Championships, being crowned the conference’s Female Athlete of the Meet after amassing a whopping 30 points by winning three throwing events.

She became the first woman to win the shot put, discus and hammer throw, although it didn’t come as a surprise. Entering the competition, Ewen held the conference-leading distances in all three of the events and she is the only NCAA Division 1 female thrower to rank in the top 10 in the country with all three implements.

What was surprising was her complete command along the way.

She began with the shot put Saturday. Even though the ring was flooded and many athletes were simply trying not to fall, Ewen unleashed an effort of 56 feet, 4.50 inches (17.18m) on her first attempt. No one else in the field was able to catch her.

In the discus Sunday, she had the same approach. She threw 196 feet, 3 inches (59.81m) on her first attempt, and after that, no one even got close. She won by more than 25 feet to take the title.

“That’s how I wanted to do it,” Ewen said. “Once you do that big throw that you know no one else can touch, then you’re free to have some fun the rest of the competition.”

Ewen had some slight issues in the hammer, though her victory was inevitable since she holds the NCAA-leading distance in the event. After all, early in the outdoor season, she twice broke the American collegiate hammer throw record.

Originally she broke the record in March, but by throwing 238-10 (72.81m) on April 28 at the Duel in the Desert against rival Arizona, Ewen improved on her own standard. Now, she chases a 10-year-old collegiate record of 239-4 (72.94m) set by Georgia’s Jenny Dahlgren, who competes for Argentina.

Although Ewen is on her way to becoming the best female collegiate hammer thrower in history, she tries not to think about it.

“I like the sound of it. I certainly hope so, but I’m really just trying to take it one meet at a time,” she said. “You know, the more you try to chase records, the further away they get.”

Yet, on Sunday at Hayward Field, she added another record to her growing collection after throwing 230-4 (70.20m) to claim a new meet record, throwing almost 30 feet further than anyone else in the competition. She only needed two throws to do it.

After fouling on her first two attempts, Ewen desperately needed a fair throw just to get into the finals. On her final attempt, she propelled herself into first, reaching 211-6 (64.46m). She bettered that on her only other fair throw.

Her accomplishments this season are encouraging, seeing as longtime Arizona State throwing coach David Dumble had decided to leave the school earlier this year for Oregon State.

Ewen had originally chosen Arizona State has her college of choice because of the coaching staff and had to make an adjustment when the school hired Brian Blutreich, a former Olympian in the discus, as its new throwing coach.

Because Blutreich was a discus thrower, his experience has helped Ewen improve. She had only finished third in the discus during last year’s Pac-12 competition.

“Dumble was a much more optimistic coach,” she said of the coaching change. “Blu will definitely tell you when a throw kind of sucked, but that’s totally OK. Sometimes you need that tough love.”

When asked if the tough-love approach was something she thrives with, she replied, “My dad was kind of the same way in high school, so I think it’s nice getting back to my roots a little.”

Her father, Bruce Ewen, was also a thrower, something that she believes has helped her progress.

“I think it’s helped a lot. I can bounce ideas off of my dad in a way that a lot of kids don’t have the opportunity to,” she said. “If I can’t figure something out, or if I’m just home practicing over winter break, I always have that built-in person.”

Ewen has already qualified for the NCAA outdoor championship in the hammer. Perhaps there, she will hit the record she has been so close to reaching all season long.

“It would be amazing leaving your mark on the track world,” she said. “It would be nice to know that I bettered it in some way.”