Shelby Ashe reaches Olympic-worthy levels in 2 years

St. Pius X Catholic (Atlanta) senior Shelby Ashe has built an astonishing career in less than two years as a weight thrower.

Though just introduced to two events the summer before her junior year, she already holds national records for the 20-pound indoor weight throw (68 feet, 2½ inches) and the 8.8-pound outdoor hammer throw (214-4). Her career-best in the shot put, which she throws only during high school events, is 47-9. Her best discus throw is 124 feet.

"My absolute favorite event is the hammer," the powerful 5-foot-8 standout told MaxPreps. "It's the most fun to throw and most fun to watch, because it goes so far."

The personable Georgian hopes to ride the hammer all the way to the 2012 Olympic Games in London. She is dedicating the next year toward that end and then plans to attend Harvard University. Mike Judge, her coach at the Throw 1 Deep Track Club, is one of the nation's leading authorities on weight throwing and he is a believer.



"As far as I'm concerned, I think it (making the 2012 Olympics) is realistic," he affirmed. "In 2000 the female who won the hammer throw was only 17."

Surprisingly, Ashe did not even try out for track until her freshman year at St. Pius.

"I had done just about everything – soccer, taekwondo, cheerleading, gymnastics, dance and basketball," she pointed out. "I got bored and wanted to try something else."

She really enjoyed taekwondo and doesn't recall ever finishing lower than second in any tournament.

"I was the girl that boys didn't want to spar with," she laughed.

That statement still holds true today, because she can bench press 210 pounds. With just two weeks of practice as a freshman, she threw the shot 32 feet.



"I'm pretty positive I won. I just kind of picked it up and threw it out there," she said of her total lack of form. "I still have bad habits. There's always something to work on."

Despite lacking experience, Ashe qualified for the Class AAA state meet as a freshman. However, she suffered stage fright and did not perform well. She explained, "There were crazy amounts of people there. I never saw anything like that in my life. I hadn't been around that many people ever. I still get nervous at national meets. Being around that many people always is taxing. I try to focus on things like music and having fun and not concentrate on the people watching."

Continue reading{PAGEBREAK} Ashe's sophomore year was frustrating, because she failed to match her freshman accomplishment of reaching the state finals. Just at the point of her greatest discouragement, however, Ashe met Judge, who has worked with her tirelessly since the summer before her junior year.

Judge not only worked with her on the shot put, but introduced her to the hammer and the weight throw, because he wants all of his athletes to be as versatile as possible, with an eye on a college scholarship. In the shot put, he taught her how to create force on the ball.

"When I first got her, she had no idea how to do it," Judge said of the new events. "We started from scratch. She didn't have any bad habits and that's the best way to do it. I could see she had a natural feel for it the first day I taught her. I expected her to be really good, but I never expected how great she would be."

He found out quickly that "She's got physical skills and mental focus second to none. She's going to do what it takes. She's one of those students who come around once in a lifetime. She's willing to sacrifice having fun as a senior to accomplish things no one ever has accomplished."



Judge pointed out that her national record in the hammer as a junior would have given her fifth place in the NCAA meet. With Judge tutoring, Ashe not only dominated the state of Georgia, but exploded onto the national scene.

"Even little things he told me would make a difference," she said thankfully.

Her success started at the National Scholastic Indoor Championships in New York City where she set a national record in the weight throw at 65-4 ¼. She also had a personal-record 44 feet which gave her second-place in the shot put.

"That was so exciting," she said. "It made me feel really good and confident."

One year after failing to qualify for the state meet, she dominated the state with a championship toss of 46-5 in the shot put. She also was third in the discus. Last summer she added the national hammer record with a superb effort of 214-4 during the USATF Junior Olympics on her home field in Marietta, Ga.

During the Junior Nationals in Des Moines, Iowa, she won the hammer, then placed ninth in separate competition against collegians and professionals. That enabled her to make the World Junior team that competed in Moncton, Canada, and later the Youth Olympics in Singapore. The latter two meets were plagued by rain.



This winter, she won the weight throw at the Simplot Games in Pocatello, Idaho. Then she took the New Balance Indoor Nationals in New York City by storm by breaking her own national weight throw record with a 68-2½ effort and placing third in the shot put with a toss of 47-7¾.

This spring she will be working toward defending her state shot put championship and raising her already-strong 3.35 GPA with Harvard little more than a year away.
 
Ashe is a past president of the Spanish Club and enjoys translating English to Spanish and vice versa for local elementary students. She also is quite adept at painting T-shirts and making cool outfits. She hopes to make some USA teams again this summer as she gears up for the next Olympics.

"I don't know if I could call myself a long shot (to make the Olympic team)," she said confidently. "I have a lot of room to improve, but it's really exciting to go after it."