Lawrence High’s Scott Penny stood out among a crowd of hammer-throwers at the Kansas Relays.
He wasn’t the biggest competitor and he didn’t throw the farthest. But he was the only high school competitor among collegiate athletes.
Just because high school track meets in Kansas don’t include the hammer throw doesn’t mean he won’t compete in it when he can.
Penny broke his own school record with a toss of 50.44 meters, placing 14th overall Thursday at Memorial Stadium.
“My goal coming in here was 50 meters, and my second throw was just short of it, so I just went for it,” Penny said.
But isn’t it strange being the only high school competitor among dozens of college athletes?
“It’s a fun atmosphere,” Penny said. “It’s sort of weird, but I’m basically competing against myself, but it’s nice to have all these guys around.”
Throwing the hammer isn’t that weird for Scott; his father, Bill, was a hammer-thrower for Kansas University.
To say that Scott is devoting his athletic career to following in his father’s footsteps would be an oversimplification. Scott also is on the golf team during the track season and plays football in the fall.
On top of that, he recently was elected student-body president at LHS. If that wasn’t enough, Scott might have to cut his shot put competition short today to sing in the school’s Spring Showtime production.
But that doesn’t bother his coach, Scott Stidham.
“We want our kids to be busy and involved in everything, and he is an example of what we want Lawrence kids to be like,” Stidham said.
It doesn’t bother his father, either, who likes the fact his son competes in the same event he did as a track athlete, but also encourages his son to do other activities.
“I think for any parent, it’s nice to see your kids do some of the same things you like to do, and Scott likes to do a lot of things, so that makes it fun,” Bill Penny said. “I think naturally he has the body. We haven’t thrown a lot, we just kind of work around the other things he’s doing.”
Out at Memorial Stadium, Scott threw like someone totally devoted to the sport, and appeared to have a good time doing it. After his flight was finished, he wandered around and chatted with other competitors. It was all in a day’s work for Scott Penny.
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