By TYLER ELLYSON, UNK Communications

Kearney, Neb. – At the University of Nebraska at Kearney, there's a tried-and-true formula for developing top-notch track and field throwers.

Find big, strong country kids with a solid work ethic, pair them with coaches who can fine-tune their technique, and repeat year after year.

This strategy has worked wonders over the past two decades – and the current group on the UNK men's track and field team is no exception.

"There's just a strong tradition," UNK head track and field coach Brady Bonsall said. "That's a group we always expect to lead us."

UNK has produced 13 different NCAA Division II All-Americans in the men's throwing events – weight, shot put, discus and hammer – since 1999. Those athletes earned the honor a total of 37 times, winning three national titles and posting five national runner-up finishes.

The Lopers currently have the top-ranked shot put team in Division II, according to the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), and the discus squad is ranked No. 4 nationally. 

"There's an expectation of success in that group," said Bonsall, who is in his 12th year with the UNK track and field program. "I expect them to be their best when their best is needed."
 
CENTENNIAL CONNECTION
Tanner Barth, a redshirt junior from Utica, knew the bar would be set pretty high when he committed to UNK. He and Loper teammate Andrew Heine, a senior from York, both attended Centennial High School, where UNK throws coach Dane Tobey holds school records in the shot put and discus.

Tobey, in his seventh year as an assistant coach under Bonsall, is among the most decorated track and field athletes in UNK history. The eight-time All-American was a national runner-up in the indoor shot put and a national champion during the outdoor season in 2010, when he was named the NCAA Division II Men's Field Athlete of the Year and qualified for the U.S. Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

Tobey is the UNK record-holder in the discus (187 feet, 1 inch), outdoor shot put (62-7 1/4) and indoor shot put (61-9).

"He knows what it takes to be the best," Barth said. "That creates an environment that makes you want to compete at the highest level. It kind of drives you."

Motivation has never been an issue for the UNK men's throwers, who challenge each other in every aspect of the sport.

"When I came in, I had really good upperclassman leaders," said Jacob Bartling, a redshirt senior from Elm Creek. "Those older guys pushed us in the weight room."

Bartling describes practices as a focused, yet fun environment where guys are cheering their teammates on while also working hard to outdo each other.

"The weight room guys love the throwers," Bonsall said. "They get in there, they move a lot of weight around and they're excited about doing it. You don't have to generate that energy, they bring the energy into the room with them."
 

That competitiveness shows up in the numbers.

Bartling has qualified for the NCAA Division II Championships four times in the shot put and twice in the discus, and he's in good position to make another appearance in both events later this month. He earned second-team All-American honors in the 2018 outdoor and 2019 indoor seasons, finishing 10th and ninth, respectively, in the shot.

The 6-foot-4, 270-pound former defensive lineman on the Loper football team currently ranks third all-time at UNK in the indoor shot put (60-6), fourth in the outdoor shot put (58-10 3/4) and seventh in the discus (174-4). His personal-best in the indoor shot put earned Bartling a Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) title in February.

While Bartling has his eyes on the UNK record book – "I know I'm capable of much more," he said – Barth has been watching his teammate's success.

"Every year I want to be right there with Jake," Barth said. "I want to go to the national meet with Jake and I want to throw what Jake's throwing. I see him do it and I get excited and I want to feel that."

Barth tossed the shot put 58-8 1/2 during the MIAA Indoor Championships, good for fourth place in the conference and the No. 5 spot on UNK's all-time leader board, then he finished 17th at the Division II Indoor Championships in March.

He climbed to No. 8 on UNK's outdoor shot put list with an effort of 56 1/2 at last week's Prairie Wolf Invitational hosted by Nebraska Wesleyan University. The Lopers claimed the top four spots in the shot put at that event and finished 1-2 in the discus.
 
TRANSFER POWER
Along with Barth, Bartling and Heine, whose hammer throw (185-3) ranks seventh in UNK history, graduate transfer Zach Brittain added another level of firepower in 2019.

At Grand Island Central Catholic, Brittain won the 2014 Class C state championship in the shot put and discus, edging Bartling for the all-class gold in the discus.

The two were familiar foes when Brittain attended Doane University in Crete, where he was a six-time NAIA national qualifier in the shot put and three-time national qualifier in both the discus and weight throw. Brittain finished as the national runner-up three times in the shot put and once in the discus.

"I always wanted to beat him. He always wanted to beat me," Bartling said. "We went back and forth."

Bartling admits he "wasn't super-thrilled" when Brittain transferred to UNK, but he soon learned the addition of another big-time thrower would benefit the entire team.

"He really contributed to our drive," Bartling said. "It pushed me to have a great summer in the weight room."

Now Brittain is just another one of the guys, with discus (171-5), outdoor shot put (57-3 1/2) and indoor shot put (56-3 3/4) throws that all rank inside the top 10 in UNK history and put him in the same national-qualifying position as Bartling.

"We're one big group of friends," said Barth, who needs one big toss to join his teammates at the NCAA Championships in late May.

And they're all focused on the same goal – proving they're the most dominant group of throwers in Division II.

"Being part of the best crew in the country means something," Barth said. "It brings out a little bit more of that competitive edge."
 
UPCOMING EVENTS
The UNK track and field teams will compete Friday through Sunday (May 3-5) at the MIAA Outdoor Championships, hosted by the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg. The final home event of the season is the Loper Last Chance Twilight, scheduled for 3 p.m. May 12 at Kearney High School.
 
UNK ALL-AMERICANS
Thirteen men's throwers have earned All-American honors since UNK joined Division II in 1990
 
Name – Event – National finish (2nd-team honors, places 9-12, went into effect starting in 2016)
 
1999
Indoor
Brett Wetton – weight throw – sixth; Tom Brue – shot put – fourth
Outdoor
Tyson Bertrand – discus – third
 
2000
Indoor
Tyson Bertrand – shot put – fourth
Outdoor
Tyson Bertrand – shot put – sixth; Tyson Bertrand – discus – sixth
 
2001
Indoor
Brett Wetton – weight throw – third

 
2002
Indoor
Nate Wheat – shot put – third
Outdoor
Dave Smith – discus – second
 
2003
Indoor
Lance Pfeiffer – shot put – seventh
Outdoor
Dave Smith – discus – second; Nate Wheat – shot put – eighth
 
2004
Indoor
Nate Wheat – shot put – third; Derek Frese – weight throw – sixth
Outdoor
Nate Wheat – shot put – third; Scott Jorgensen – discus – sixth
 
2005
Indoor
Derek Frese – weight throw – fifth
Outdoor
Derek Frese – discus – fifth; Derek Frese – hammer – sixth
 
2006
Indoor
Lance Pfeiffer – shot put – second
Outdoor
Lance Pfeiffer – shot put – first; Dane Tobey – discus – fourth; Kellen Jacobs – hammer – seventh
 
2007
Indoor
Lance Pfeiffer – shot put – first; Dane Tobey – shot put – third
Outdoor
Lance Pfeiffer – shot put – second; Dane Tobey – shot put – third; Dane Tobey – discus – fourth
 
2009
Outdoor
Drew Onnen – discus – fourth
 
2010
Indoor
Dane Tobey – shot put – second
Outdoor
Dane Tobey – shot put – first
 
2011
Outdoor
Dane Tobey – shot put – fourth; Dane Tobey – discus – fourth
 
2014
Indoor
Michael Thalken – shot put – seventh
Outdoor
Michael Thalken – shot put – fifth
 
2018
Outdoor
Jacob Bartling – shot put – 10th
 
2019
Indoor
Jacob Bartling – shot put – ninth