Robbins Feeling Right at Home

By: D. Scott Fritchen

It's sometimes hard to put things into perspective. Will Howard comes off the sideline and plays like a 10-year NFL veteran. Ayoka Lee scores 61 points in a Division I women's basketball game. Markquis Nowell accounts for more points in the NCAA Tournament then any player in the country.

Then there's the case of Emma Robbins. She's a junior on the Kansas State track and field team, she's competed in the hammer throw just three times this outdoor season, and she already ranks 10th in the country.

"That feels pretty crazy," she says.

But Robbins is used to making a splash. Once a soccer player, Robbins was prodded by her language-arts teacher at Esperanza (Calif.) High School to give the shotput and discus a try. She did. Then one day she picked up the hammer. Boy, did that decision pay off. She won the 2018 and 2019 California State Championship for the hammer throw.

She threw the hammer for a total of six months when she won her first state title in 2018. She won the 2019 title with a throw of 172 feet, 7 inches (52.60 meters).

"It was kind of a whirlwind," she says. "Once I began getting recruited by all these colleges out of state, it really opened my eyes."

Dozens of colleges from UCLA to Penn State to LSU to K-State to California recruited Robbins. She virtually had her pick of where she wanted to go. LSU throws coach Greg Watson, who is now at K-State, knew Robbins' high school coach, and Watson wowed Robbins the most. She visited Baton Rouge and became a Tiger. After the COVID year, during which Robbins trained alone, she returned and became the first woman in LSU history to win the SEC hammer throw. She set the LSU record with a toss of 220 feet, 4 inches (67.17 meters).

"When I threw that throw, I was so excited I danced in the ring," Robbins says. "I would never do that again, but I was just so excited. I was so new to this. Putting in all that hard work and coupling it with Coach Watson's program and coaching, that really pushed me to be the best I could be."

Robbins finished third in the NCAA East Preliminaries and earned second-team All-America honors.

When Watson decided to become K-State throws coach in July 2021, it was a no-brainer for Robbins: Sight unseen, she was going to follow Watson to Manhattan.

"I really appreciated that and value her trust in me to make a move like that," Watson says. "I certainly don't take that lightly. We're continuing to build her as an athlete and the relationship here is the same as it has been, really.

"It's cliché to say she works hard but that's what it is. She's not the biggest girl or the strongest, but her technique is good and the ball flies really well."

As for Robbins' potential this season?

"Certainly I can see her being a first-team All-American," Watson says.

Robbins trains for two hours a day and lifts weights. Although she has a natural gift for throwing the hammer, that's not to downplay her labor. She dedicates a copious amount of hours toward excelling in all areas of her craft with an emphasis this year on nutrition.

"Being really relaxed and not trying to overpower the ball is one of my strengths," she says. "I know if I get connection with the ball I can make it go far."

Any nerves out there in the ring?

"There's always nerves and nerves are a good thing," she says. "I try to use nerves to get that extra meter. It's almost like adrenaline. I've competed at such high-level meets now that I know how to calm down when it comes time."

In the first outdoor meet of the season at the UTSA Invitational, she finished second at 194 feet, 3 inches (59.23 meters). She followed that by finishing third at the Texas Relays at 213 feet, 5 inches (65.06 meters) and second at the Bobcat Invitational with a throw of 216 feet, 3 inches (65.94 meters).

Time continues to tick toward the Big 12 Championships on May 12-14 in Norman, Oklahoma. Last season, she finished second at the Big 12 Championships at 217 feet, 1 inch (66.17 meters) and qualified for the NCAA West Preliminaries.

This season, she's all about winning the Big 12 title and returning to the NCAA Championships, this year in Austin, Texas.

"I'm very excited," she says. "Last year, I was pretty bummed because I was pretty close (in the Big 12 Championships), but this year I'm super excited to show them what I've got.

"We're really setting ourselves up to be able to compete at (the NCAA Championships). Having already been there, it's like, 'Let's just do it again.' I've done it before.

"Let's do it again."

Kansas State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Emma Robbins

Related Videos