SE: Kassanavoid, Ingvaldsen Continue to Build K-State’s Hammer Throw Reputation
Jun 06, 2018 | Track & Field, Sports Extra
By Corbin McGuire
The day after advancing themselves to the NCAA Outdoor Championships, K-State track and field's Janee' Kassanavoid and Helene Ingvaldsen traveled back from California to Manhattan. The next day, they were spinning and heaving the hammer at the Wildcats' practice pit.
This level of dedication is nothing new for the Wildcat duo. Kassanavoid and Ingvaldsen did the same thing after finishing first and third, respectively, at the Big 12 Championships in Waco, Texas, where the Wildcats won their second-straight conference team title.
"It definitely requires a lot of work," Ingvaldsen, a sophomore, said of the hammer. "I know there are other girls working just as hard as us, and we have to be better, so we can't take any days off if we want to beat them."
Kassanavoid, a senior, said this no-days-off mentality is more than simply practicing a lot. In fact, she said physical days off are vital in order to avoid injury and prevent untimely soreness. Those days are opportunities, however, to improve mentally.
"You really have to be a student of the event. That's what (throws coach Greg) Watson says, so that's what I really tried to do this year," Kassanavoid said. "I'm just studying my throws, as well as other people's throws, and really just understanding the hammer altogether. But I'm still learning. I have a long ways to go."
Watson's arrival to K-State in the 2013-14 season set the foundation for K-State's current status as a national power in the throws event.
In five seasons at K-State, Watson has produced double-digit Big 12 Champions and more than 20 All-Americans. Additionally, this marks the third year in a row the Wildcats have sent multiple women to the national outdoor meet for the hammer, a feat no other school can claim in the last three seasons.
"I came here because of Coach Watson, and he made me so much better, which I'm really grateful for," Ingvaldsen, a native of Norway, said. "He is very knowledgeable about the hammer."
Eventually, as is the case with Kassanavoid and Ingvaldsen, this knowledge not only becomes passed down from Watson to his throwers. As Watson's student-athletes become more familiar with his program and technique, they begin to push one another.
"She's helped me so much. I'm really glad I have someone I can look up to and try to compete with at practice because you need motivation at practice. She's very dedicated. That's very inspiring. If I have a bad day, I just see how she's dedicated and it motivates me to continue with it," Ingvaldsen said of Kassanavoid. "We are good friends. We are there for each other, always motivating each other, happy for each other."
"I see a lot of potential in her," Kassanavoid, a native of Lawson, Missouri, said of her younger teammate. "She's always been someone that's pushed me, so that's been a great help. She's got a good future ahead of her. She's a hard worker."
When Kassanavoid arrived at K-State after one season at Johnson County Community College, Sara Savatovic was established as the team's top hammer thrower and the school's record holder in the event.
Kassanavoid, who started throwing the hammer between 57-59 meters, took over that role when Savatovic graduated. The Wildcat senior now holds the school record at 68.21m/223-09, a mark the three-time All-American and three-time Big 12 Champion looks to top on Thursday at her final collegiate meet.
For one, it's her final time to put on a K-State uniform, so she said she wants to "go out with a bang." Kassanavoid said she also wants that school record even harder to reach, a final act to push Ingvaldsen.
"If she beats it," Kassanavoid said, with a smile, "then I know she earned it."
Ingvaldsen's personal-best currently sits at 64.42m/211-04, so the school record is not on the forefront of her mind quite yet. But she's confident she'll get closer to it at her second outdoor national meet.
"I feel like I have so much more inside of me, which I'm going to release at nationals," Ingvaldsen, who finished 15thlast year in Eugene to earn Second Team All-America honors. "Since I didn't make it to the final last year, I really wanted to make it back and do it. It means a lot in that way, to see what I can show myself."
The day after advancing themselves to the NCAA Outdoor Championships, K-State track and field's Janee' Kassanavoid and Helene Ingvaldsen traveled back from California to Manhattan. The next day, they were spinning and heaving the hammer at the Wildcats' practice pit.
This level of dedication is nothing new for the Wildcat duo. Kassanavoid and Ingvaldsen did the same thing after finishing first and third, respectively, at the Big 12 Championships in Waco, Texas, where the Wildcats won their second-straight conference team title.
"It definitely requires a lot of work," Ingvaldsen, a sophomore, said of the hammer. "I know there are other girls working just as hard as us, and we have to be better, so we can't take any days off if we want to beat them."
Kassanavoid, a senior, said this no-days-off mentality is more than simply practicing a lot. In fact, she said physical days off are vital in order to avoid injury and prevent untimely soreness. Those days are opportunities, however, to improve mentally.
"You really have to be a student of the event. That's what (throws coach Greg) Watson says, so that's what I really tried to do this year," Kassanavoid said. "I'm just studying my throws, as well as other people's throws, and really just understanding the hammer altogether. But I'm still learning. I have a long ways to go."
Watson's arrival to K-State in the 2013-14 season set the foundation for K-State's current status as a national power in the throws event.
In five seasons at K-State, Watson has produced double-digit Big 12 Champions and more than 20 All-Americans. Additionally, this marks the third year in a row the Wildcats have sent multiple women to the national outdoor meet for the hammer, a feat no other school can claim in the last three seasons.
"I came here because of Coach Watson, and he made me so much better, which I'm really grateful for," Ingvaldsen, a native of Norway, said. "He is very knowledgeable about the hammer."
Eventually, as is the case with Kassanavoid and Ingvaldsen, this knowledge not only becomes passed down from Watson to his throwers. As Watson's student-athletes become more familiar with his program and technique, they begin to push one another.
"She's helped me so much. I'm really glad I have someone I can look up to and try to compete with at practice because you need motivation at practice. She's very dedicated. That's very inspiring. If I have a bad day, I just see how she's dedicated and it motivates me to continue with it," Ingvaldsen said of Kassanavoid. "We are good friends. We are there for each other, always motivating each other, happy for each other."
"I see a lot of potential in her," Kassanavoid, a native of Lawson, Missouri, said of her younger teammate. "She's always been someone that's pushed me, so that's been a great help. She's got a good future ahead of her. She's a hard worker."
When Kassanavoid arrived at K-State after one season at Johnson County Community College, Sara Savatovic was established as the team's top hammer thrower and the school's record holder in the event.
Kassanavoid, who started throwing the hammer between 57-59 meters, took over that role when Savatovic graduated. The Wildcat senior now holds the school record at 68.21m/223-09, a mark the three-time All-American and three-time Big 12 Champion looks to top on Thursday at her final collegiate meet.
For one, it's her final time to put on a K-State uniform, so she said she wants to "go out with a bang." Kassanavoid said she also wants that school record even harder to reach, a final act to push Ingvaldsen.
"If she beats it," Kassanavoid said, with a smile, "then I know she earned it."
Ingvaldsen's personal-best currently sits at 64.42m/211-04, so the school record is not on the forefront of her mind quite yet. But she's confident she'll get closer to it at her second outdoor national meet.
"I feel like I have so much more inside of me, which I'm going to release at nationals," Ingvaldsen, who finished 15thlast year in Eugene to earn Second Team All-America honors. "Since I didn't make it to the final last year, I really wanted to make it back and do it. It means a lot in that way, to see what I can show myself."
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