Completed Event: Track and Field at Bryan Clay Invite on April 16, 2026 ,
Final
Track and Field
Bryan Clay Invite
Iowa State University Athletics
Big 12 Championships Are Next Stop For Koglin
05.09.2011 | Track and Field
AMES, Iowa – When flying to a track meet Iowa State's Josh Koglin knows what question is coming from the person sitting next to him on the plane.
“I tell them that I throw the hammer,” Koglin said. “They look at me and say 'is that like the shot put?' I just say 'yes, like the shot put.'”
In reality, the modern or Olympic hammer throw is a track and field event the object of which is to throw a 16-pound metal ball attached to a wire and handle. The name "hammer throw" is derived from older competitions when an actual sledge hammer was thrown. You don't learn to do it overnight. In part this is because the hammer can be dangerous when performed by a novice. Learning the proper throwing technique takes meticulous training. Few states have the event in high school competition.
Koglin hopes to score hammer points for Iowa State in this week's Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Norman, Okla. The event runs Friday through Sunday at the John Jacobs Track Complex.
It was through Iowa State throws coach Grant Wall that Koglin ended up at Iowa State. The Cyclone senior had earned NCAA Division II All-America honors under Wall in 2009.
“I had some athletics success in high school in football, swimming and track and field,” Koglin said. “I didn't like the camaraderie of the teams during my collegiate football visits and I had been swimming long enough. I had done several track events, not just the throws in high school. But I wanted to concentrate on the throws in college.”
Koglin enrolled at Saginaw Valley State, a college just 30 minutes from his home town of Marysville, Mich., near the Canadian border. The new environment had its limitations.
“We had a part-time coach, a former hammer thrower, who helped us out once a week,” Koglin said. “I didn't have a lot of choices. (Saginaw Valley State) was the only school that expressed interest in me.”
Enter Wall, who had started coaching at Miami of Ohio. His competitive career had been in cross country at Ohio Northern and Ohio State.
“I was getting my master's degree at Miami and literally went to the coaching staff and said I wanted to help,” Wall said. “They told me that they didn't have a throws coach and their throwers weren't very good. They didn't think I could screw that up.”
Wall immediately made himself a student of the events, including the shot put, discus, and the 35-pound weight throw. He was a quick study. At Miami and then Columbia, Wall tutored a two-time All-American and a two-time conference champion in the hammer throw, two regional pole vault qualifiers, and a seventh-place finisher at the U.S. indoor championship in the heptathlon.
When Wall moved to Saginaw Valley State, one of the first recipients of his knowledge was Koglin.
“When I first started I couldn't even throw the men's hammer,” Koglin said. But when coach Wall started I got a lot better. For the first-time I was on a weight and conditioning program. I got a lot better and my hammer improved 18 feet.”
Koglin earned NCAA Division II All-American honors at Saginaw. When Wall came to Iowa State, Koglin followed.
Koglin's improvement continued at Iowa State. The best performance of his career was at the Mt. SAC Relays in April. The Cyclone placed fourth with a throw of 59.93 meters (196 feet 7 inches). At the conference meet Koglin wants to place, move past the 60-meter mark and top the 200-foot barrier. He
has a believer in Wall.
“I told him that I had a great thrower who made his biggest improvement at the conference meet and in the last part of the season. He has done the work to get a big one.”
At last season's Big 12 meet, Koglin fouled on his first two throws and then missed by qualifying for the final by two centimeters.
Koglin graduated Friday with a bachelor's degree in finance. This journey yet uncompleted has left him knowing he did the right thing in coming to Ames. He is bullish on Iowa State.
“Iowa State has a very good business school,” Koglin said. “I am getting a degree from a top-notch institution. I have trained with a great coach and with a team of throwers who have given me encouragement.”
Koglin is one of Wall's first Cyclones. But the Iowa State coach says the senior and his teammates are the start of something big.
“The atmosphere here is for champions in competition on the track and in the classroom.”
“I tell them that I throw the hammer,” Koglin said. “They look at me and say 'is that like the shot put?' I just say 'yes, like the shot put.'”
In reality, the modern or Olympic hammer throw is a track and field event the object of which is to throw a 16-pound metal ball attached to a wire and handle. The name "hammer throw" is derived from older competitions when an actual sledge hammer was thrown. You don't learn to do it overnight. In part this is because the hammer can be dangerous when performed by a novice. Learning the proper throwing technique takes meticulous training. Few states have the event in high school competition.
Koglin hopes to score hammer points for Iowa State in this week's Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Norman, Okla. The event runs Friday through Sunday at the John Jacobs Track Complex.
It was through Iowa State throws coach Grant Wall that Koglin ended up at Iowa State. The Cyclone senior had earned NCAA Division II All-America honors under Wall in 2009.
“I had some athletics success in high school in football, swimming and track and field,” Koglin said. “I didn't like the camaraderie of the teams during my collegiate football visits and I had been swimming long enough. I had done several track events, not just the throws in high school. But I wanted to concentrate on the throws in college.”
Koglin enrolled at Saginaw Valley State, a college just 30 minutes from his home town of Marysville, Mich., near the Canadian border. The new environment had its limitations.
“We had a part-time coach, a former hammer thrower, who helped us out once a week,” Koglin said. “I didn't have a lot of choices. (Saginaw Valley State) was the only school that expressed interest in me.”
Enter Wall, who had started coaching at Miami of Ohio. His competitive career had been in cross country at Ohio Northern and Ohio State.
“I was getting my master's degree at Miami and literally went to the coaching staff and said I wanted to help,” Wall said. “They told me that they didn't have a throws coach and their throwers weren't very good. They didn't think I could screw that up.”
Wall immediately made himself a student of the events, including the shot put, discus, and the 35-pound weight throw. He was a quick study. At Miami and then Columbia, Wall tutored a two-time All-American and a two-time conference champion in the hammer throw, two regional pole vault qualifiers, and a seventh-place finisher at the U.S. indoor championship in the heptathlon.
When Wall moved to Saginaw Valley State, one of the first recipients of his knowledge was Koglin.
“When I first started I couldn't even throw the men's hammer,” Koglin said. But when coach Wall started I got a lot better. For the first-time I was on a weight and conditioning program. I got a lot better and my hammer improved 18 feet.”
Koglin earned NCAA Division II All-American honors at Saginaw. When Wall came to Iowa State, Koglin followed.
Koglin's improvement continued at Iowa State. The best performance of his career was at the Mt. SAC Relays in April. The Cyclone placed fourth with a throw of 59.93 meters (196 feet 7 inches). At the conference meet Koglin wants to place, move past the 60-meter mark and top the 200-foot barrier. He
has a believer in Wall.
“I told him that I had a great thrower who made his biggest improvement at the conference meet and in the last part of the season. He has done the work to get a big one.”
At last season's Big 12 meet, Koglin fouled on his first two throws and then missed by qualifying for the final by two centimeters.
Koglin graduated Friday with a bachelor's degree in finance. This journey yet uncompleted has left him knowing he did the right thing in coming to Ames. He is bullish on Iowa State.
“Iowa State has a very good business school,” Koglin said. “I am getting a degree from a top-notch institution. I have trained with a great coach and with a team of throwers who have given me encouragement.”
Koglin is one of Wall's first Cyclones. But the Iowa State coach says the senior and his teammates are the start of something big.
“The atmosphere here is for champions in competition on the track and in the classroom.”
Drake Relays Elite 800m Preview
Wednesday, April 24
Track Replay: Big 12 Indoor_2022
Thursday, March 03
Cailie Logue Finish and Interview
Friday, February 25
REPLAY: 2021 Big 12 Outdoor Track Championships
Wednesday, May 19
