Classical RI throwers take pride in school's success

By Brian Towey for DyeStat

NEW YORK -- Bob Palazzo's vaunted throws program at Classical High in Providence, R.I., is built on tradition. One of the keys, Palazzo believes, is providing his athletes with a variety of competition.

"To achieve at the next level it's important to get exposure," Palazzo said. "Ocean Breeze, the Armory, Yale, we try to get around. It pays dividends. During the regular season they tear it up back home."

On Wednesday at the Millrose Games Trials, two of Palazzo's throwers, sophomore Cheyenne Figueroa (48 feet, 1 inch) and junior Jacob Furland (66-4) won the weight throw contests to qualify Feb. 1 for the NYRR Millrose Games.

"It's really tough (being a part of Classical's throws program) because there are a lot of intense workouts," Figueroa said. "You have to get into it; you have to keep your mindset in it."

Furland, one of the country's emerging young throwers, joined the Classical throws program as a freshman.

"My coach is a gym teacher at Classical," Furland said. "He did weight-training my freshman year. He pulled us aside and said, 'We're going to do something outside.' None of us knew what it was. I stuck with it."

Many other throwers have been introduced to the events -- weight throw and hammer -- in the same way. At Classical, it's a tradition that extends back to 1924 Paris Olympian Fred Tootell, and a lineage of great Rhode Island coaches and throwers.

"Especially with Classical, we have a really big tradition in the weight and hammer," Furland said. "If you go to our school and you see some of the pictures of guys on the wall -- Joe Velez, Mark McGehearty -- seeing those faces every day, it makes you want to do better."

Rhode Island has long been known as a hammer hub. It is one of the few states that includes the event at its state championship meet. Yet for athletes who wear the purple-hued jersey with the white letter C, the journey means a lot more than that.

"The big thing for me is that it's helped me not just as an athlete, but as a person," said Furland, who hopes to reach 70 feet in the weight indoors. "It's become a big part of who I am.

"When you're in the weight room, you can't stop a rep, no matter how hard it is. That's kind of how it is with life. You can't B.S. any of it."