Junior Jeff Duensing, the first ranked junior shot putter in the nation and the third ranked junior discus thrower in the nation, works so hard to be where he is, not only during season, but all year long. During the summer time, Duensing puts in extra work to make the season even better.

Once school ends, most students take a break from any physical activity, sleep till noon everyday and live in front of a TV for at least a week. This isn’t the case for Duensing, six days of the week, right after the school year ends, he gets up to practice his throwing, from 9:00 am to 11:00 am he throws shot put and discus and from 11:30 am to 2:00 pm, he is lifting weights.

Duensing explains how his “summer training is more focused on how many throws [he] can get in rather than the fine tunes.” In essences, the amount of throws thrown will help Duensing build up his ability to throw the same distance consistently.

Although Duensing may be throwing discus and shotput for multiple hours a day, he states how it never gets repetitive because “there are at least a hundred things to do right in a throw so [he is] always working on something different or trying something different.”

As for weights and lifting, Duensing’s summer training for that is much more difficult during the summer time than it is during the school year, with heavy weights and little reps, to build up his strength and power.

Duensing’s coach, Bill Pendleton, also dedicates a lot of his summer time to helping Duensing succeed. Duensing mother, Jessica Duensing, says how Pendleton “deserves so much credit for how well [her] son is doing” and Duensing’s dad, Jeff Duensing, states how he is “honored to have Coach P mentor [his] son.”

The two make a team and work together all year long to help Duensing succeed with this sport. Duensing never feels unmotivated because he is aware of the hard work both him and his coach are putting in for the betterment of himself.

“We have put a hard work mentality in him since he was a little kid”, said Duensing’s father, “[I]t’s pushed him since he was a little kid in soccer and it has paid off.”

Duensing’s mentality has only helped him and will only continue to help him as he enters his senior year.

“I have a feeling this upcoming year will be even greater”