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Jonathan Mulkeen
With a population of around seven thousand, Williston is hardly one of the foremost cities in the USA, let alone Florida.
Its claim to fame is that it produced the winner of the 1975 Kentucky Derby, 'Foolish Pleasure,' a fact that is proudly displayed on the "Welcome to Williston" sign upon approaching the city. Lest we forget the city also stages an annual Peanut Festival. An unmissable event, I'm sure.
Peanuts and horses aside, Williston can now lay claim to producing one of the finest athletes in the USA; Erin Gilreath.
The 24-year-old Floridian made a name for herself last year as the leading female US thrower, after setting a world record in the weight throw (23.95m) and an American record in the hammer (72.12m). Her throwing talents do not end there however, as Gilreath actually began her track and field career as a shot-putter.
"In high school a couple of my teachers wanted me to try the shot, so my friend and I joined the team. I saw it as a way to get out of my house," explains Gilreath. "My step-dad was an alcoholic and so the less time I spent at home with him, the better."
Gilreath began to specialise in the shot but also tried her hand at the weight throw and hammer. In 2003, her last year at the University of Florida, Gilreath - a former 'Gator' - set a PB at the US Championships in the hammer after finishing 6th at the NCAAs. Both she and her coach felt like there was more that should be explored, especially as Gilreath had only been throwing the weight and hammer for just two years.
"I'd probably still enjoy throwing the shot if I could," says Gilreath. "But the hammer is so technical and time-consuming. For throwers, it's hard to be elite in two events, especially ones as technically different as the hammer and the shot."
After a somewhat busy 2003 season, Gilreath entered an end-of-year meet in late December to contest in what were now her two favoured events - the weight and hammer. Putting together everything she had learnt earlier on in the year, Gilreath launched the 20lb weight into the air, landing well past the 23m marker. 58cm farther in fact, smashing her previous PB which she had set to win the NCAA indoor championships.
She then went on to enjoy another victory in the hammer a few hours later, with a lifetime best to boot (70.50m). It was to be her first throw over 70m, the benchmark for elite women's hammer throwing. Being the end of the year, Gilreath's results that day almost went unnoticed amongst track and field fans. Gilreath had silently, yet emphatically, taken the plunge into elite throwing.
The ever-modest Gilreath seems hesitant to acknowledge the extent of her remarkable throwing talent. "I'll be the last one to go on about talent. I feel like, for all the work I do, it can't just be the talent. But then, I guess it must be a factor, considering how quickly I got to the level I am."
Gilreath's coach, Larry Judge, has undoubtedly played a part in the success stories too. "He is very knowledgeable," says Gilreath of her coach. "He knows how to communicate the throwing techniques to me, and then it's just a matter of he and I putting in a lot of work and a lot of throws."
Erin Gilreath isn't the only Olympian currently coached by Larry Judge. He also coaches NCAA weight throw champion Candice Scott (Trinidad & Tobago) and, until recently, used to coach NCAA indoor shot put champion Kim Barrett (Jamaica). Gilreath and Scott are based at the University of Florida, from which Gilreath graduated in 2003 with a major in Spanish.
Her first season as a pro (2004, also an Olympic year) began superbly, as she enjoyed an undefeated indoor season in the weight throw. Gilreath also added 35cm to the four-year-old weight throw world record, previously held by Dawn Ellerbe at 23.60m.
The outdoor season then picked up where the indoor one left off, with six straight wins and another record, this time an American record in the hammer (72.12m). A couple of defeats in mid-April were quickly dismissed as a result of over-training and sure enough, Gilreath continued her season with a further seven wins, culminating in victory at the Olympic trials.
Unfortunately, her experience at the actual Olympic Games was not quite so victorious. "The Olympics is a hell of a way to start off one's summer championship career," Gilreath points out. "I got to Athens and I was in a pressure cooker."
As it happened, Gilreath failed to qualify for the Olympic final, finishing a below-par 10th in qualifying. Asked if that experience has now made her more determined, Gilreath said, "I'm not sure I have begun to reap the benefits of that experience yet.
"Maybe I've lost my killer instinct," articulates Gilreath, "But I'm not thinking about how the experience of Athens has possibly made me a more determined athlete. I feel I need to prove it to myself rather than anybody else. I'm a better thrower than what I showed in Athens, but I am also a young thrower. Last year, I feel like I went through athletic puberty.
"From all the rigorous training, my body had turned into something that maybe my mind wasn't ready for yet. Even though I had all those 70m+ throws under my belt, mentally I was still the sixth-place finisher at the NCAAs."
Despite disappointment in Athens, Gilreath is still focused on her task as a thrower. "As a competitor, I don't spend much time looking outside of myself. I stay more focused on what I want to do with myself as opposed to trying to match or better what somebody else has done," says Gilreath, in reference to throwers of the past.
In fact, the only throwers Gilreath says she admires are her team-mates at Florida, including Candice Scott, Scarlett Ekeroma and Jukina Dickerson. "When you ask me what throwers I admire, I think of them first. Of course I look to more experienced throwers for technical points that I think I need to work on. But to me it seems silly to admire somebody for their technique and not who they are, and I know those girls at UF better than any other throwers."
Now that Gilreath has etched her name into the record books, some may say that she has a certain amount of expectation to live up to. Gilreath, however, views it quite differently.
"When all those things happened last year, I didn't really think about them. Partly because I never had the time, and partly because it's not in my nature to sit back and dwell on my achievements, especially as I didn't expect them to happen." Explaining further, "I see this as something I kind of fell into, and I'm still very new to this, so I came into last year not really knowing what to expect. As I am continuing in the sport though, I value my achievements more and I hope that they will give me more confidence this season."
This season has actually already got off to a blazing start with another fine series of wins in the weight throw, including three world records. Yet even those sterling achievements couldn't alter Gilreath's mindset throughout the 2005 indoor season. "I was in a strange place with a bad attitude," says Gilreath, bluntly.
"I wasn't really myself; not who I was the year before. After the 2004 summer season, I returned to practice not caring about throwing at all and just wondering if it was really where my future was. I came home from Athens feeling very much like a failure. I had put in so much work and felt like I left with nothing. I have spent the whole of the recent indoor season questioning who I am. However, I have come to realise that just being an Olympian is something very special in itself."
When asked whether or not she is still stuck in that rut, Gilreath replied, "I can't say for sure. I can say, however, that these last few days of throwing the hammer has been enjoyable. I have been alone when throwing, and I enjoy being alone. I think, in a way, that being alone was maybe even necessary. Of late, I have been going out to throw and saying to myself 'Okay, if I really want to do this now, I need to prove it' - almost like I was having a face off with the hammer - because with the hammer, you have to think and feel. You have to want to throw it."
One thing that possibly shook Gilreath out of that rut was the rift she had with USATF during the last few weeks of the indoor season. "I should have gotten points for my performance at the Millrose Games," she begins to explain. "But I didn't get any - I guess because they didn't have the new scoring tables ready - so I was going back and forth with (Craig) Masback and a couple of the media people all week about it. It just seemed strange to me that this year they decide to change the scoring tables when there is money involved. I was just left feeling that I had absolutely no support from them."
The money in question was a $25,000 jackpot for the winner of the visa series, decided by the athletes whose individual mark set at any event within the visa series scores highest on the points tables. "Last year I barely threw over 77 feet at nationals and scored about 1230 points. This year I throw over 80 feet and I score 1199. It's just strange, and I think USATF acted unprofessionally by adjusting the scoring tables the week of nationals. Makes it seem a little shady."
Gilreath continues, "Going into the meet, I wasn't even thinking about the money. Part of me had kind of given up because I felt I wasn't being given a fair shot by my national governing body. It's kind of crazy that I can be the first woman to break the 80 feet barrier and not get the money. Still, it was more important to me to win the title again than to win the $25,000."
Optimistically, Gilreath says, "I figure I will have more opportunities for bigger money outdoors, if I work hard and want it. My Dad told me that I should do the midget toss in Gainesville and get paid - it's probably better money than I get for throwing the weight!"
At the US indoor championships, Gilreath jumped to the top of the visa series leader board with her 24.46m effort and looked set to scoop the jackpot. That was, until the very last event. Angela Daigle pulled off a win in the 60m with a 7.09 clocking - a 0.12 improvement on her previous best and, knocked Gilreath off the top spot in the process.
"I didn't think much about it, really," says Gilreath about Daigle's winning performance. "I was mainly thinking 'I hope they don't flash my image on the jumbotron while I'm chomping on this doughnut!' I suppose my heart sank a bit, but I just shrugged it off. The part that was most disheartening were the issues with USATF the week of the meet."
With the US indoor championships well out of the way, Gilreath is now looking forward to the outdoor season. Despite almost scratching from a few meets this year due to lack of motivation, Gilreath has further improved in the weight compared to last year and has been throwing over 24m for fun. She says that she is definitely hoping to see similar improvements outdoors. "I am giving myself no choice but to improve."
Gilreath, however, adamantly refuses to put a mental limit on what she can throw. "I'm not sure there is a throw I'd be happy with. My main goal this year is to be successful at the international level, so whatever throw that takes, I'll be happy. My coach thinks I will definitely improve and has a certain figure in mind, but we will see. I don't want to be thinking about it all year. I just want to throw and have some fun."
Asked about the possibility of setting a world record in the hammer, Gilreath says, "Supposedly, according to my coach, I'm eventually capable of that too, and he has been right about everything else so far. But I'm not dumb enough to think I'm going to be the only one going for it. There are plenty of girls who have thrown farther than me that want to throw farther."
Looking further into the future, Gilreath has plans for 2008. "I do plan on trying for at least one more Olympic Games. I feel like I owe it to myself to try for another, now that I know what to expect and how to improve on the areas in which I faltered in Athens. Besides, there's so much cool stuff to see in China!"
Certainly, if Gilreath keeps improving the way she has done in the past few years and performs at her absolute best in the major championships, then this outgoing, carefree, and assertive independent woman from Florida could soon take the throwing world by storm.
I just hope that there's room for one more name on that 'Welcome to Williston' sign.
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