The dark mesh of the throwing cage wavered in the searing summer heat of Greensboro, North Carolina. Senior Tristan Bush stepped into the throw circle, the white letters of “Saratoga” gleaming against his blue and red sports tank top.
“Boys’ 2016 championship hammer: flight one, round 3,” the announcer declared.
Despite being 6’1” and having nearly 200 pounds of muscle, Bush was surprisingly nimble as his red and black track shoes paced inside the ring. His 12-pound hammer blazed about him five times like a steel comet before hurtling across the landing sector, landing 54.33 meters away.
This past summer, Bush competed in the New Balance National Championships, taking 17th overall in the national high school division.
On his first day of throwing, Bush was 4th in the Emerging Elites division. He said that when he threw in the Championships division, he knew he wasn’t going to make finals, so he was a lot more relaxed. As a result, he was able to throw further and “have fun with it.”
Bush’s first experience with hammer, however, started in middle school as an inside joke between his parents. His dad, Bob Bush, used to throw in college, so his mother, Patti Bush, bought Bush a throwing starter kit for Christmas, including the equipment for discus, shot put and hammer. He and his dad started practicing every Sunday in the dust between second base and centerfield in Congress Springs, a baseball field in Saratoga.
Bush threw shotput and discus in middle school, but he didn’t realize his talent for hammer throw until high school, when he began training regularly with two coaches: his dad, who coaches at De Anza College, and another coach in Santa Cruz. In freshman and sophomore year, Bush went to the Junior Olympics and placed seventh both times.
Although managing school and sports was a struggle at first, Bush started to get the hang of it by the end of junior year.
“So far, it’s been pretty good for me this year,” Bush said, “I’d go home and get a quick snack. Then I’d throw and lift, which leaves me with about two hours to do my homework at night after practice.”
Now in his fifth year of hammer throw, Bush said he usually spends six days a week training. After warming up and taking one quick lap around the track, Bush spends most of his two-hour practice doing drills for his release and turn.
“I do ‘walk-arounds’ where you just walk the hammer around you and do your turns to get your rhythm,” Bush said. “For those, you don’t actually have to use a hammer; you could use a broom or a medicine ball.”
In order to be able to throw a hammer far and not get thrown around, Bush says he must gain enough weight to combat the ball. He is working to his goal of 220 pounds through a “weight gainer,” a 1000-calorie protein shake that he takes once when he wakes up and once before bed.
In this coming season, Bush hopes to throw 220 feet in hammer and break the school record in discus, which is 167 feet. He has also been talking to colleges about his future in the sport.
“I like hammer because it forces me to learn how to calm myself down, forget about the past, and focus on the present and future,” Bush said. “Plus, everyone who throws is super nice and friendly, and you actually become friends with the kids you throw against.”