Project 365 - Pictures Week 3

Week 3 is looking much more organized. In case you are wondering all of the pictures are taken with my iPhone and usually edited/posted to Instagram and Flickr.


January 15: Christmas gift from a girl in my HS youth group. It makes me smile.



January 16: Ready to dig in.

January 17: Hanging out with me while I'm on the treadmill.

January 18: A beautiful bow made by a beautiful friend for my beautiful daughter.

January 19: I'm on day 19 of 21 of a Daniel Fast. I made tacos for the family and here is my version. Corn tortillas, hummus, guacamole, black beans, roasted tomato, and lettuce. They were yummy.

January 20: Brrr!

January 21: "A great day to be a Spartan." Zack set a new PR (personal record) of 61' 7" with the shot put. That mark makes him 2nd in the Big 10 and 8th in the nation.

A fun goal met.

Zack is back into the swing of indoor track meets. He had a meet at Cornerstone College last night. The last time he went to a meet at Cornerstone College (his junior year) he learned that the throwing pit was only about 55' and then you hit a wall. No one was able to hit the wall that time but that is a reachable distance by some of the bigger throwers. That being said Zack can now throw past that so he was excited to go to the meet last night because he wanted to "hit the wall". Guess what? They moved the ring back to give 5 more feet before you would hit the wall but that didn't stop Zack. He was still able to accomplish his goal. It was a fun night. He took first with a throw of 60'1" (which is as far as the could measure obviously because the wall stopped it).

Newspaper write up on Zack

There was a really cool write up on Zack in one of our local papers today. You can see it here or read it below.

ADVANCE NEWSPAPERS OPINION

The Latest News, Updates and Opinions

Allendale thrower ranks among nation's best
by Grant Lofdahl
Tuesday May 27, 2008, 3:38 PM

Many people have gifts, whether they be in music, art, mathematics, medicine - or in throwing heavy objects long distances.

That last gift is the one Allendale junior Zack Hill was blessed with. The Falcons' biggest standout track and field competitor - both literally and figuratively - has made his mark on the local and state scene in 2008 by hurling the discus and shot put farther than any local thrower in recent years.

Hill began his throwing career as an eighth-grader and had an inauspicious start - he wasn't even the best thrower on his own team. Fellow Class of 2009 member CJ Koop was already an excellent throwing competitor, and his throws were farther than Hill's. However, Allendale throwing coach Brandon Sloterbeek said he could see a great deal of potential in both young men.

"I think we knew in eighth grade both Zack and CJ were exceptional throwers," said Sloterbeek. "CJ was beating him then substantially, but Zack just had the body type for a thrower. There was definitely a lot of potential there. Both he and CJ were in the 40s (feet) for shot in middle school, so they were exceptional throwers from the beginning."

That potential should be clear to anyone who knows Hill's father, Mark. Mark Hill was a standout football player at West Ottawa High School who moved on to play at both Michigan and Michigan State. As it turns out, Zack got some important throwing attributes from his mother Jennifer as well.

"I got my size from my dad," said Zack. "But I think I got a lot of the mind part of it from my mom - the way I can feel myself in the throwing circle.

"My dad played center and long-snapper at Michigan and then transferred and played guard at Michigan State."

As a ninth-grader, he continued to grow and continued to throw. By Hill's sophomore year he held Allendale's school records in both shot and disc. But beyond his considerable athletic ability and achievements in the throwing circle, Falcons head track coach Brett Cataldo said Hill is the kind of kid who others admire and would do well to emulate.

"Zack is a great kid and a good role model as a positive contributor at school," said Cataldo. "He does the right things. He has strong character and an excellent work ethic. His parents are very supportive, and along with Brandon they have put him in a position to train at high levels all year. It is clear that he has done the work over the off season because his performances are amazing this spring."

Amazing indeed. Sloterbeek and Hill worked out extremely hard over the winter in preparation for Zack's junior season. Lifting weights intensely and participating in several indoor track meets, Hill showed signs of doing even greater things than one might expect from a sophomore school record holder. He achieved major goals early by in the outdoor season by throwing the disc over 160 feet and putting the shot over 55.

Sloterbeek said Hill's passion for his sport has been a big reason for his success this season.

"In addition to natural talent it's drive and a love for the sport," Sloterbeek said. "He loves throwing a lot, so that makes him work on it, think about, it all the time.

"We got a lot more depth to our training program this year. We've been lifting a lot longer. We did a lot of work in January, February, and the number of lifts, the different styles of lifts, those are the things that we did a lot better this year."

Hill said he's always been bigger than his classmates, and growing accustomed to his own size and strength was another factor in his improvement.

"Maturing into my body is just the biggest thing," Hill said. "I was just a really big kid. And all the off-season training has really paid off too."

Asked how far he hopes to throw and what his goals are for this season and beyond, he said.
"Just wherever the Lord takes me pretty much, just to get as good as I can."

So far he's been awfully good. Hill surpassed the 60-foot mark in the shot in a league dual meet and then exceeded 170 feet in the disc. At the Ottawa County meet last Thursday night, he amazed spectators with a mighty heave of 187 feet, seven inches in the discus. Still just an 11th-grader, he has attracted the interest of local track powers Grand Valley State University and Calvin College, and he's also received interest from NCAA Division 1 heavyweights like Michigan, Michigan State, Oklahoma and Purdue.

With the MITCA and MHSAA state finals going on the weekends of the 24th and the 31st, Hill's primary focus is on winning state championships (he placed fourth in the shot at the MHSAA finals last year). Still, he also admitted that the Grand Rapids Press area records - 196-5 in the discus by Grandville's Brett Organek in 1992 and 64-10 3/4 in the shot by Middleville's Gary VanElst way back in 1968 - are something he's thought about and hopes one day to achieve.

Currently, the junior is ranked third in the state in the shot and fourth in disc, and he is rated in the top-30 in the United States in both according to high school track web site Dyestat.com. Coach Cataldo said Hill, now 6-1 and 270 pounds and likely still growing, still has even greater throws left in him.

"I think he still has the potential to throw farther. He has consistently gotten better as the season has progressed," said Cataldo. "His work ethic and the coaching Brandon is doing with him are paying off. The future is bright for Zack as long as he continues to do the work that he is capable of and train hard."

As for Sloterbeek, the throwing coach said he's given up trying to predict or set limits on how far Hill can throw.

"I won't speculate on that, I don't have any idea," said Hill. "As far as God wants him to throw - I could put a number out there, but the last time I did that he crushed it. We set a goal during indoor track of 55 feet, and he threw 59-2, just out of the blue. I don't think anyone can say how far he's going to throw."

With his coaches behind him and teammate Koop, who'd be the best thrower on most any other high school track team, pushing him in practice and in meets, the sky appears to be no limit for Zack Hill. He will continue striving for greater performances, using his gift: throwing heavy objects far into that sky.

Great achievments and Mom's venting

Zack broke records last night both for our own HS records and the OK Silver records. OK Silver is the division our school competes in. Go here to check it out. You can imagine we were very excited.

That is the "great achievements" part now for a little venting by a frustrated mom....

Not even one day after that wonderful achievement we find out from another coach that there is rumblings about the fact that Zack is so big and is putting up such big numbers he must be using enhancements. That just burns me. Of course the coach completely defended Zack because he knows him so well, which I am very thankful for. It brings me back to when Zack was 6 months old and off the charts for both his weight and height and the pediatrician told me I was feeding him too much. After hearing that my VERY smart mother-in-law asked me if the doctor has ever met my husband. I said I don't think she has and she suggested that Mark go with me to the next appointment. After meeting Mark the pediatrician never again told me I was feeding Zack too much. He is built just like his daddy, BIG. It is sad that so many of our "famous" athletes have used enhancements and tainted it for everyone else who is achieving their goals the good old fashion way through hard work, sweat, and tears.

Excited mom alert!

Zack is breaking records and people are starting to look...

(Click on the image if you can't read it.)

(or go here to look for yourself)

This link was sent to me this morning by a college coach that was at the meet last night when Zack broke both the HS shot put record and the HS weight throw record.

He placed 2nd last night at a college throw and out threw every college student at the meet. The 1st place thrower was a 24 year old Lithuanian man who is going to start throwing for GVSU. He was throwing "unattached" (as in not throwing for any particular college at the meet) which is how Zack has to throw also. Zack placed 9th with the weight throw, competing against all college guys and this is only the second time Zack has thrown the weight.

Exciting times!

Smiles!

Zack throwing at the college level...

Mark found out that Zack can compete at college Track meets as "unattached". So Friday night we paid to have him throw at a college meet at Grand Valley State University. There were maybe 5 or 6 other colleges represented there also. I thought you'd enjoy seeing Zack doing what he loves to do. He was a little nervous being the only High School kid throwing with all the college guys but he held his own. Out of 20 guys he placed 4th. We are very excited for him.


Thank you Melissa!