SOMETHING SPECIAL

What started out as a conditioning stint last year has turned into something special for Mariposa County High School senior Eamon Fluharty.

“I started track to rehab my knee after I tore it up in football last year,” Fluharty said.

“I was planning to just fix my knee up but when I started practicing, I thought maybe if I really tried I could be good at this.”

While at MCHS, Fluharty has participated in football, basketball, baseball and wrestling but throwing shot put and discus is new for him.

In only his second year with the MCHS track and field team, Fluharty qualified for divisionals at the Sac-Joaquin Section Division Trials on May 13.

Fluharty came in first place in discus with a personal best throw of 154’10”.

He took seventh place in shot put with a throw of 43’6”.

At the end of the division trials, Fluharty was the only MCHS athlete to advance to divisionals (discus).

“Getting first was a huge confidence boost,” Fluharty said.

“Everyone was telling me to think about this and think about that but I looked at my coach and thought don’t think about anything. I just needed to relax and have fun.”

Sometimes not trying so hard is the better option.

“You’re never going to PR (personal record) when you try,” said Fluharty.

“If you try hard, you die hard. That’s how it is in throwing.”

The SJS Division Finals took place on May 16 at Riverbank High School.

Fluharty finished second in discus with a distance of 148’4” for Division V and seventh overall for the Sac-Joaquin Section.

This advanced him to Masters Finals.

“The work has really paid off,” Fluharty said.

“I knew I had it in me when I had been throwing 150’ at practice. It’s just about doing it in competition.”

Last year, Fluharty felt he was excelling more with shot put than discus.

“Last year into early this year I thought my shot put was getting better but then disc just blew up,” he explained.

“I just need to keep adjusting. When we started throwing this year I was throwing about 120’-130’ and I thought I just need to adjust my hands and my grip.”

A little adjusting is all it took.

“I adjusted my grip and it shot up to 140’,” Fluharty said.

“My release has been pretty good, the opening and the middle point are the biggest things right now. That’s the difference between throwing in the 140’s to 150’s.”

Before Masters, Fluharty was looking to start hitting 160’ to 170’ consistently.

“We’re going to go hard before Masters and work on the wide leg sweep and trying to find the center of the circle,” he explained.

“Hopefully I’ll start hitting 160’-170’ in practice.”

The SJS Track and Field Masters took place on May 23 at Folsom High School where athletes competed to advance to the state finals at Buchanan High School in Clovis on May 29-30.

Fluharty concluded his season at Masters where he placed eleventh with a throw of 138’11”.

Coach Bruce Cole has enjoyed working with Fluharty and the throwers on the track team.

“It’s one of those sports where it takes 10,000 times to do it and eventually you just get it,” Cole said.

“It’s been special, especially with him only having two years. If we had started sooner who knows where he would be.”

It’s been a busy month for Fluharty as he’s wrapping up the last few weeks of senior year before graduation in June.

Along with school, practice and competition, Fluharty has committed to Westmont College in Santa Barbara to major in Business and Economics while competing with the Track and Field team.

“It’s going to be a pretty busy schedule,” he said.

“There’s going to be a lot more throwing stuff, lots of traveling, they go everywhere.”

Fluharty is looking forward to the experience.

“I’ll be pretty busy but my brother goes there so I’m excited to see him,” said Fluharty.

“I’m excited to be making new friends and go surfing.”