As a young boy, Ryan Whiting was always throwing things.
When his best friend told him to give the shot put a try when they were in the eighth grade, Whiting was just looking for another thing to heave.
He quickly caught on and only lost one meet in his first season.
The rest is almost history — with another chapter or two to be written.
During that first season, Whiting easily gravitated to the sport where his work ethic and self-motivation determined how good he was.
“For the most part, it’s not a team sport,” he said, noting that he has always been individual-minded. “You get out what you put in.”
After improving his training and technique, Whiting burst onto the national scene his junior year of high school, finishing with the second-best toss for the shot put in the country. He was unbeatable his senior year at Central Dauphin High School in Harrisburg, Pa. and was named the 2005 Gatorade National Male Track and Field Athlete of the Year.
After talking with Sun Devil throws coach Dave Dumble, Whiting headed west to the desert.
ASU coach Greg Kraft said Whiting has handled the pressure of being a highly recruited athlete exceptionally well during his time as a Sun Devil.
“He came in as the first kid to throw over 70 feet in high school,” Kraft said. “I think he had an expectation of himself. He’s a high-achiever on the track and in the classroom.”
A big part of the program’s success on the men’s side over the past few years can be attributed to Whiting’s stranglehold on the shot put over the past two years.
His list of accomplishments reads like a novel at this point in his career.
The collegiate record holder for the indoor shot put, Whiting set the mark on his final throw of the 2008 NCAA Indoor National Championships by throwing 71-03.50 feet (21.73 meters) to capture his first national title. After finishing second in the Outdoor National Championships in 2008, he came back with another indoor title last year before adding the outdoor crown to his list.
While most athletes are lucky to win one national title in their career, Whiting has won three. And he will be looking for another this weekend as the men’s track and field team aims to bring home its second national title in three years.
But given the choice, Whiting said the team is more important in the final indoor meet of the season, rather than taking home another individual crown.
“I would rather win the team title — it’s definitely more important,” he said. “But they do kind of go hand-in-hand.”
However, his success hasn’t been limited to the shot put circle.
Whiting, a civil engineering major, earned U.S. Track and Field Cross Country Coaches Association All-Academic honors and was selected as the 2008 USTFCCCA Men’s Division I Indoor Field Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
After he graduates in May, Whiting is heading to Penn State for graduate school in structural engineering. He said he has always had a passion for buildings and bridges and hopes to launch a career out of it in the future.
“I don’t want to go to school just to go to school,” he says. “I want to use my education and not be a student for nothing.”
Before he begins building bridges, Whiting said he will definitely focus on the shot put in his post-collegiate career. He said he hopes to compete in European track meets to get his name out there on the world stage.
In the United States, he’s already very well known as an elite thrower. He recently competed at the USA Track and Field Indoor Championships, where he took second place, earning a spot in the International Association of Athletics Federation World Indoor Championships in Doha, Qatar.
Unfortunately, that meet is this weekend and Whiting is already slated to throw for the Sun Devils.
As he winds down his collegiate career, Whiting isn’t done yet. He still wants to break a few more records outdoors before focusing on the Olympics in 2012.
“Right now I have the [throwing] distance to go,” he said. “It’s just a matter of staying motivated. I don’t need to do anything special.”
If he takes home another crown this weekend, followed by the outdoor shot put title, Whiting would have five individual national titles as well as a runner-up to his name.
Not many athletes have been as dominant as he has.
“In the shot put, he’s the most dominant athlete I’ve ever coached,” Kraft said. “It will be interesting to see how the history books identify him.”
Reach the reporter at elsmith8@asu.edu
