Nosal Pegged to Top Ivies In Both Hammer, Weight

Freshman track coach Ed Stowell explains that the first thing Harvard does when it gets a Midwestern shot and discus man is to start him throwing the 35-1b. weight and the hammer--almost exclusively Eastern events.

When Ed Nosal walked onto the field two days after he got here the routine was no different. "They handed me the thing so I started throwing it," he now says after smashing the freshman indoor weight record with a 57' 9" throw and going undefeated in both events. "As a matter of fact I still don't know how to throw the damned thing."

Whether he knows how or not, next year Nosal is expected to be a top Ivy contender in both the indoor weight and the outdoor hammer along with Charlie Ajootian, who placed fourth in the NCAA's, and Ron Wilson. In addition he will continue to throw the discus, which was his best event in high school, and the shot, where he broke Dick Benka's freshman record with a 51' 10" heave this spring.

Stowell hesitantly admits that after only a year in the event Nosal is "in my estimation the best freshman hammer thrower that we have ever had" and "for only having thrown the weight for a year, probably the best freshman 35-1b. weight thrower ever in this country."

Winner of the McLaughlin Trophy, given annually to the most valuable member of the freshman track team, the 6' 1" 215 1b. Chicagoan definitely has his own style. At most of the indoor meets last season, he would get up for his first throw and just fling the "thing" without the customary double twirl. Then with the event won, he spent his last two tries practicing the regular way.

Second top point getter on the team. Nosal tripled three times in the outdoor season. In the freshmen's narrow win over Princeton, he swept the discus and then settled down against Princeton's top weight men in the hammer and shot. After fouling twice in the hammer, he qualified on the last throw and went on to win.

In the shot, Nosal quickly fell behind the Tiger's Mike Saner who threw 50' 10" on his first try, but came back again on his final throw to post a 51' 5" beating Saner, Princeton, and almost coincidentally the Harvard record.

At Andover, Nosal is known for hanging the lighter 28-1b. weight up on their indoor upper track with a heave that was disqualified because it couldn't be measured. During the spring, he returned to Andover to throw the 12-1b. hammer 219', over a fence and ten feet farther than the national high school record.

"He's dedicated and very coachable. That's why he's going to be great," Sto-well smiles and repeats. "He's so coachable and we've got such great coaching, how can he miss?"