Jared Schuurmans

Jared Schuurmans
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing the  United States
Pan American Sports Festival
2014 Mexico City Discus throw

Jared Schuurmans (born August 20, 1987) is an American track and field athlete who competes in the discus throw. He holds a personal record of 66.10 m (216 ft 101⁄4 in) for the event, set in 2015. He was the American national discus champion in 2015.

Schuurmans won an NAIA discus title in 2010 while at Doane College. He was the silver medallist at the 2014 Pan American Sports Festival.

Career

Early life and college

Raised in Norfolk, Nebraska, the son of Gary and Connie Schuurmans, he was trained by his father, who was also an athlete. He attended Norfolk Senior High School.[1][2] After having had an initial focus on the decathlon in his youth,[3] he won state titles and set high school records in the discus throw. He studied history at Doane College and represented the school athletically.[2]

In 2008 he ranked second in the discus at the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Championships and was in the top ten of the NAIA shot put both indoors and out. A new school record came at the start of the season and he raised his national profile with a second-place finish at the 2009 Drake Relays.[4][5] He then improved to third in the shot put at the NAIA Outdoor Championships, but fell to fourth in the discus. He set a new best of 59.20 m (194 ft 21⁄2 in) in Crete, Nebraska that June and made his debut at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships two weeks later, finishing 19th overall. In his final year as a college athlete he achieved his best results. A new personal record of 17.66 m (57 ft 111⁄4 in) in the shot put brought him second at the 2010 NAIA Indoor Championships. An outdoor best of 17.28 m (56 ft 81⁄4 in) for second place followed at the NAIA Outdoor Championships, where he took his first collegiate title in the discus. He also moved up the national rankings with 16th at the 2010 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.[4]

Early professional career

After graduation, Schuurmans continued with the discus throw on a professional basis. He achieved a personal record mark of 60.19 m (197 ft 51⁄2 in) in Chula Vista, California in April 2011. He failed to get near that mark at the 2012 United States Olympic Trials, coming 16th with a throw of 56.94 m (186 ft 91⁄2 in).[4] The experience was an encouraging one for him, as he believed he could get close to the top of the sport with better preparation.[1] He joined the National Athletic Institute's United States Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista in 2013 and began training with former Olympic discus champion Mac Wilkins – who had been a childhood idol of Schuurmans'. He was much improved that year, throwing beyond 200 feet on 24 occasions and ending the year with a new personal record of 62.89 m (206 ft 33⁄4 in).[2][6] This mark raised him to seventh place in the American seasonal rankings by Track and Field News.[7] He was 51st on the world lists for 2013.[8] Schuurmans' comparatively slim build for an American discus thrower led journalist Martin Bingisser to identify a trend towards smaller, more technique-led throwers in the country, with that year's American champion Lance Brooks being another example.[3] Schuurmans also stated that throw practice was by far the most important part of his training for the sport, rather than weight training.[9]

Schuurmans began to compete with greater consistency in 2014 and threw beyond sixty meters in nearly all his competitions that year. A new personal record of 64.42 m (211 ft 4 in) came in Chula Vista in April, but he also had several other throws beyond 63 meters that year.[4][6] He was a national finalist for the first time at the 2014 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, ending in seventh place with a best of 60.28 m (197 ft 9 in).[10] With no World Championships or Olympics being held that year, he instead made his debut on the international track and field circuit, coming fourth at the Grande Premio Brasil Caixa de Atletismo in Brazil ahead of United States Olympian Jason Young.[11] He earned his first national selection that year, being part of the team for the Pan American Sports Festival in Mexico. His throw of 59.90 m (196 ft 61⁄4 in) at the meeting brought him a silver medal behind only Cuba's Jorge Fernández, the reigning Pan American champion.[12] Schuurmans ranked 33rd internationally for the season and fifth among American men.[13][14]

First national title

He made his IAAF Diamond League debut in 2015 at the Prefontaine Classic, coming seventh among an international field.[15] Schuurmans had a throw of 66.10 m (216 ft 101⁄4 in) in June which, although set in a windy venue, placed him as the favourite for the national championships, having also gone undefeated by an American at that point of the season.[16] He followed expectation at the 2015 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, winning his first national title with a throw of 64.64 m (212 ft 03⁄4 in). This also guaranteed his selection for the World Championships that year.[17][18]

Personal records

Discus progression

National titles

International competitions

Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
2014 Pan American Sports Festival Mexico City, Mexico 2nd Discus throw 59.90 m
2015 Pan American Games Toronto, Canada 4th Discus throw 62.32 m
World Championships Beijing, China 29th (q) Discus throw 57.74 m

References

  1. 1 2 Posphilil, Randy (2013-09-13). Norfolk grad pursuing Olympic dream in discus. Norfolk Daily News. Retrieved on 2015-06-27.
  2. 1 2 3 Jared Schuurmans. National Athletic Institute. Retrieved on 2015-06-27.
  3. 1 2 Bingisser, Martin (2013-09-19). The Rise of the Small School Thrower . HMMR Media. Retrieved on 2015-06-27.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Jared Schuurmans. Tilastopaja. Retrieved on 2015-06-27.
  5. ↑ Schuurmans Breaks Discus Record. Doane College. Retrieved on 2015-06-27.
  6. 1 2 Jared Schuurmans. IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-06-27.
  7. ↑ 2013 U.S. Absolute List – Men. Track and Field News. Retrieved on 2015-06-27.
  8. ↑ Discus Throw – men – senior – outdoor – 2013. IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-06-27.
  9. 1 2 2015 Off-Season Training With: Jared Schuurmans. Throwholics (2014-12-03). Retrieved on 2015-06-27.
  10. ↑ 2014 USA Track & Field Championships – 6/25/2014 to 6/29/2014 . USA Track and Field. Retrieved on 2015-06-27.
  11. ↑ Complete Belém IWC Results. Track and Field News (2014-08-10). Retrieved on 2015-06-27.
  12. ↑ Team USA Adds to Medal Haul on Last Day of Pan American Sports Festival – Track & Field. USATF (2014-08-16). Retrieved on 2015-06-27.
  13. ↑ Discus Throw – men – senior – outdoor – 2014. IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-06-27.
  14. ↑ 2014 U.S. Absolute List – Men. Track and Field News. Retrieved on 2015-06-27.
  15. ↑ IAAF Diamond League Eugene Men's Discus. IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-06-27.
  16. ↑ Bingisser, Martin (2015-06-20). 2015 USATF Championships Men’s Throws Guide. HMMRMedia Retrieved on 2015-06-27.
  17. ↑ Chavez, Chris (2015-06-26). Carter and Dendy shine on first day of US Championships. IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-06-27.
  18. ↑ Schuurmans wins first national track & field title. LiteRock97. Retrieved on 2015-06-27.

External links

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