Feature by Craig Morgan
TEMPE, Ariz. -- Maggie Ewen admits she was nervous when longtime Sun Devils throwing coaching David Dumble left the program last summer after 16 years to take the same position at Oregon State after his wife received a job in Corvallis.
"I was kind of terrified, to be honest," the redshirt junior thrower said. "I had already dedicated so much time to David. With his technique, a lot of the time, his athletes really start seeing improvement their third year so the fourth and fifth year is when they really take off because they understand what he's trying to do."
Ewen had already posted some impressive results under Dumble. As a sophomore at the Pac-12 outdoor championships last spring, she won the hammer with a throw of 63.88 meters, took third in the discus (55.38m) and fourth in the shot put (15.94m). During the NCAA West Regional, she broke the Pac-12 hammer throw record with a toss of 70.50 meters (231-03). At the NCAA Championships, she took fifth in the hammer (63.61m) and eighth in the discus (54.66m).
Instead of panicking over the inevitable shift in approach that comes with a coaching change, Ewen put her trust in head coach Greg Kraft to hire an accomplished replacement and Kraft delivered when he brought in Brian Blutreich, an Olympic discus thrower at the 1992 Barcelona Games who spent his last nine seasons as the throws coach at Oklahoma.
Blutreich has coached two Olympians, six NCAA national champions, 36 All-Americans and 23 Big 12 Conference champions. He was named a National Assistant Coach of the Year twice and he served as the men's throw coach for the United States at the 2013 World Championships in Moscow.
"He recruited me out of high school in Minnesota," Ewen said, laughing. "I told him Oklahoma was too far away and then I went to Arizona, ironically! He's still holding that over my head."
Blutreich didn't try to hide the fact that his approach would be different. Nor did he suggest it would be an easy transition from Dumble, a coach for whom he has immense respect.
"It's extremely difficult, to put it bluntly, and I'm a pretty blunt guy," he said. "It's tough in a technical sport like throwing. As a coach, you're telling yourself 'this kid has been here and done some great things so do we try to keep some things or maintain the path she was on?
"It's completely different than changing schemes, or offense and defense in other sports. You're changing fundamentals when you change technique. We've experimented quite a bit but to Maggie's credit, she's saying, 'OK coach, you tell me what you think and I'll try it.' As we get to know each other more, we'll be more on the same page. When we will see the results remains to be seen but I think she's on track to do some really good things."
While Blutreich says he is trying to slow down Ewen's approach, just as Dumble did, there are differences in the two coaches' approach.
"Their personalities are very different. Blu is not afraid to tell you to hit it, push the ball and be aggressive," Ewen said. "The way they train us in the weight room is very different, too. Coach Dumble was very strength focused with squats and power cleans and bench presses. Coach Blu is more focused on keeping us really athletic with more explosive movements and quick stuff instead of big, powerful movements."
Ewen said she is already seeing results in the discus, an obvious strength for Blutreich, but she is taking a patient approach as the
Sun Devils prepare to open the season on Jan. 13 in Flagstaff at the NAU Friday Night Duals.
"With the discus and the hammer, we still have a lot of time before we start seriously throwing so I'm not worried at all about that," she said. "I trust him. That's the best way to approach a new coach -- to fully, 100 percent dive into what they're telling you. If you have any doubts, you'll struggle instead of adapting.
"I really do like what he's teaching me in the hammer and the shot put, too. We've talked about how I'm going to be learning and developing all these new habits and techniques so I need to be patient and then next year is the year where I can really take off."
Blutreich agreed.
"She struggled at the beginning with the changes. I'm not going to lie, but she has already done some things where she's like "whoa!'" he said. "She surprised herself so I definitely think she's on the upswing and now we see the light at the end of the tunnel. I think she can do some good things this year, but she's really going to do some good things next year."
TEMPE, Ariz. -- Maggie Ewen admits she was nervous when longtime Sun Devils throwing coaching David Dumble left the program last summer after 16 years to take the same position at Oregon State after his wife received a job in Corvallis.
"I was kind of terrified, to be honest," the redshirt junior thrower said. "I had already dedicated so much time to David. With his technique, a lot of the time, his athletes really start seeing improvement their third year so the fourth and fifth year is when they really take off because they understand what he's trying to do."
Ewen had already posted some impressive results under Dumble. As a sophomore at the Pac-12 outdoor championships last spring, she won the hammer with a throw of 63.88 meters, took third in the discus (55.38m) and fourth in the shot put (15.94m). During the NCAA West Regional, she broke the Pac-12 hammer throw record with a toss of 70.50 meters (231-03). At the NCAA Championships, she took fifth in the hammer (63.61m) and eighth in the discus (54.66m).
Instead of panicking over the inevitable shift in approach that comes with a coaching change, Ewen put her trust in head coach Greg Kraft to hire an accomplished replacement and Kraft delivered when he brought in Brian Blutreich, an Olympic discus thrower at the 1992 Barcelona Games who spent his last nine seasons as the throws coach at Oklahoma.
Blutreich has coached two Olympians, six NCAA national champions, 36 All-Americans and 23 Big 12 Conference champions. He was named a National Assistant Coach of the Year twice and he served as the men's throw coach for the United States at the 2013 World Championships in Moscow.
"He recruited me out of high school in Minnesota," Ewen said, laughing. "I told him Oklahoma was too far away and then I went to Arizona, ironically! He's still holding that over my head."
Blutreich didn't try to hide the fact that his approach would be different. Nor did he suggest it would be an easy transition from Dumble, a coach for whom he has immense respect.
"It's extremely difficult, to put it bluntly, and I'm a pretty blunt guy," he said. "It's tough in a technical sport like throwing. As a coach, you're telling yourself 'this kid has been here and done some great things so do we try to keep some things or maintain the path she was on?
"It's completely different than changing schemes, or offense and defense in other sports. You're changing fundamentals when you change technique. We've experimented quite a bit but to Maggie's credit, she's saying, 'OK coach, you tell me what you think and I'll try it.' As we get to know each other more, we'll be more on the same page. When we will see the results remains to be seen but I think she's on track to do some really good things."
While Blutreich says he is trying to slow down Ewen's approach, just as Dumble did, there are differences in the two coaches' approach.
"Their personalities are very different. Blu is not afraid to tell you to hit it, push the ball and be aggressive," Ewen said. "The way they train us in the weight room is very different, too. Coach Dumble was very strength focused with squats and power cleans and bench presses. Coach Blu is more focused on keeping us really athletic with more explosive movements and quick stuff instead of big, powerful movements."
Ewen said she is already seeing results in the discus, an obvious strength for Blutreich, but she is taking a patient approach as the
Sun Devils prepare to open the season on Jan. 13 in Flagstaff at the NAU Friday Night Duals.
"With the discus and the hammer, we still have a lot of time before we start seriously throwing so I'm not worried at all about that," she said. "I trust him. That's the best way to approach a new coach -- to fully, 100 percent dive into what they're telling you. If you have any doubts, you'll struggle instead of adapting.
"I really do like what he's teaching me in the hammer and the shot put, too. We've talked about how I'm going to be learning and developing all these new habits and techniques so I need to be patient and then next year is the year where I can really take off."
Blutreich agreed.
"She struggled at the beginning with the changes. I'm not going to lie, but she has already done some things where she's like "whoa!'" he said. "She surprised herself so I definitely think she's on the upswing and now we see the light at the end of the tunnel. I think she can do some good things this year, but she's really going to do some good things next year."