Lauryn Love primed to compete with track and field’s best in Pac-12
GILLETTE, Wyo. (BVM) — Lauryn Love will soon be competing in the Pac-12 with the nation’s top college track and field athletes — a challenge the University of Arizona freshman seems fit for considering what she accomplished as a high schooler in her home state.
Love established herself as the best thrower in Wyoming by winning the Class 4A state title in both the shot put and discus as a Campbell County High School senior this past spring. Her personal-best shot put of 47 feet, 6.25 inches, which ranked No. 22 nationally among all prep competitors in 2021, stands as the second-longest throw in state history.
But Love hasn’t always been on a path to becoming a Division I track and field athlete. She didn’t even give the sport serious consideration prior to her freshman year at Campbell County.
“I definitely wasn’t thinking about my future as a freshman,” Love said. “I didn’t know if I liked (throwing) or not. I started placing a little bit my freshman year and I was like, ‘Oh, maybe I can be good at this.’”
No one could’ve expected Love to be this good, however.
“I don’t know that you can ever anticipate somebody throwing at this level because we’ve never had a kid that was this good,” Campbell County girls track and field head coach Shelly Stremcha said. “But we knew she was going to be good for sure. From the very get-go, she was just so strong and explosive so we definitely knew we had something special on our hands, but to know how special, I don’t know that anybody could have anticipated that.”
Love flashed some potential as a freshman, throwing the shot put 34-10.5 and the discus 97-11. She improved on both distances as a sophomore, throwing the shot 40-8.25 and the discus 120, and began to set her goals higher.
“I saw a girl throw 42 at state my sophomore year and I was like, ‘That’s so far; I hope I can throw that far,’” Love said.
She didn’t get the chance during her junior year after spring sports were wiped out due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the reigning Gatorade Wyoming Girls Track and Field Player of the Year would prove she could throw considerably farther than 42 feet. Her shot put PR of 47-6.25 was not only a near seven-foot improvement from her sophomore season, it’s also nearly five feet farther than Campbell County’s previous school record.
The work Love put in between her sophomore and senior seasons, which helped her lose 50 pounds, led to the substantial strides she made as a thrower.
“Imagine throwing what I am now with 50 pounds on my back,” Love said. “I just don’t think I could do it. I’ve always been really strong so it kind of came naturally, but dropping 50 pounds just sped me up in the ring so that definitely was a key factor in the jump I made from sophomore year to now.”
Love’s weight loss turned her into a faster, more explosive thrower who now finds herself in a position to take on the challenge of facing the nation’s best competition at the college level with the Wildcats.
“Arizona is such a big school and it’s the Pac-12 and I’m super excited that I can compete at that high of a level,” Love said. “It’s somewhere that’s going to challenge me to do better, especially being in Wyoming not having a ton of competition, so I’m excited to go to college where I’m not going to be the best thrower. … I’m excited to be the little guy again and to work my way up there.”
Love worked her way up from being an inexperienced thrower as a high school freshman to becoming the state’s best by the time she left Campbell County. Stremcha believes Love’s college career could have a similar upward trajectory.
“I honestly think the sky’s the limit for her,” Stremcha said. “She’s one of the most coachable kids I’ve ever had. She’s also a student of the game. She just continues to learn and work hard at doing the things she’s asked to do and understanding the sport better. … I think a lot of things have to fall into place in order for somebody to be really great and I think Lauryn has the potential to do that. I know she’ll have her work cut out for her and she’s going to take her lumps like every other kid who competes at the college level, but I think mentally and emotionally she has the fortitude to be able to overcome adversity and just be amazing.”
