On every team, teammates form bonds that are hard to describe to the outside world.
“As a thrower, I feel a strong bond from other throwers, and this helps us all become the best we can be,” redshirt junior thrower Chelsea Cassulo said. “The love and support we show each other makes us like one big family.”
The throwers at ASU, as Cassulo said, are not typical teammates that spend a few years together and part ways.
The group is on a whole other level, and that special bond is recognizable when watching them together at practice and at meets.
If one is not competing at a meet, it's certain she will be there cheering on her comrades.
“I do feel like my teammates are motivators,” redshirt junior thrower Anna Jelmini said. “We all want to be individually successful, as well as seeing our teammates be successful too.”
Both Jelmini and Cassulo have had successful careers for the Sun Devils.
Whenever there are multiple athletes with top-tier talent on the same team, it ultimately can pay dividends for the whole program and the individual competitors.
“We are a very tightly knit group on the team,” Jelmini said. “Everyone does a great job supporting each other and creating a positive and motivating environment. And when this environment is on, it creates a wave of success.”
Her teammate states they all have their gaze set on more than just individual glory.
“The biggest thing that I love about our group is how we love to see each other accomplish our goals and succeed,” Cassulo said.
Considered as one of the best Sun Devil transfers in recent history, Cassulo is making a push for more than that. The former UNLV Rebel wants to become the best.
“This record was just a stepping stone on my way to better things,” Cassulo said in regards to breaking the ASU hammer throw record. “It won’t be the last time I break it, and I have so many more records to go after — Pac-12 and NCAA.”
Her fellow teammate is right there with her at the top. Jelmini is a returning first-team All-American in the outdoor season and a back-to-back outdoor NCAA championship runner-up.
But that’s not how she wants to be remembered.
“What I need to do this year is be successful, especially in the discus,” Jelmini said. “Having upsets in your career — like me getting back-to-back at NCAAs — has really helped to make me stronger and more driven than ever before.
“I feel as though I will have a great year, and I am excited to see what I can do.”
The two women’s experience with their unit can’t be described with records and championships. Instead, Cassulo sums it up in one word.
“Badass,” she said. “We know we are the best and our success proves it. Now we just have to keep the tradition going.”
Reach the reporter at msterrel@asu.edu
