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."
Shelby Ashe.
Photo by Sarah Tolson
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."
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