May 25, 2006

By Bjorn Trowery

Athletes in sports such as football, baseball and basketball spend years practicing and competing in order to show progress and improvement. Track is no different. But for Jennifer Leatherman, her path to success was much quicker.

Now in her senior season at Penn State, Leatherman has shown that she has saved her best for last. Leatherman, a senior thrower on the Nittany Lion women's track team, participated in track and field for only one season in high school. Her performances, she says, were nothing to write home about. "I could throw a shot put, but not far enough to think I could do this competitively," says Leatherman. "I didn't even like it."

Oh, how things change.

Since transferring to Penn State from the Naval Academy after her sophomore year, Leatherman has racked up a myriad of honors and awards throughout her career, including Three All-American honors, a Big Ten Track and Field athlete of the year award, a record nine Big Ten Track and Field athlete of the week honors, two Big ten championships in the hammer throw, one in the discus, and a superb 3.93 grade point average to boot. Even Leatherman herself couldn't have imagined the amount of success she'd have as she entered college.

Leatherman started her career as a student at the United State Naval Academy and had aspirations of playing other sports in college, namely volleyball or basketball. But after a coach at the Naval Academy saw her perform, Leatherman decided that maybe she could succeed at her "worst" sport.

Coaches at the Naval Academy took Leatherman in, teaching her different techniques and methods. They saw something in Leatherman that would merit all of the instruction they were throwing into her. For the most part, Leatherman's freshman year was mainly a time to work on her mechanics and newly-learned techniques. The following year, Leatherman made up for lost time by breaking into the scene in her second year at the Naval Academy, setting school records in the shot put, hammer throw and discus.

Shortly after her sophomore year came to a close, Leatherman felt the need to move on from the U.S. Naval academy and began looking around at other schools.

"I got very serious during my sophomore year because I realized that if I stayed dedicated, I could be good at this," she explains. "Throwing was great and it helped me refocus and feel a little freedom from it all."

Leatherman had no idea what would lie ahead. Enter Coach Dayna Wenger, who coaches the throwers at Penn Tate. "Coach D" as her players call her, recalls seeing Jen at Naval Academy meets and realized the potential she had.

"I was just really impressed at the fact that she was throwing that well with such little experience," says Wenger. "I knew she was definitely for real." In the following weeks, Leatherman's coaches at the Naval Academy, whom happened to be Penn State alumni, put Leatherman into contact with Coach Wenger. The rest is history.

"I was excited to take her to the next level with her technique and to get her into the atmosphere of other great coaches and athletes," says Wenger.

Despite all of the success that awaited her, the transition proved to be a difficult one for Leatherman to deal with. "I was used to having everything planned and mapped out. I had to adjust and learn how to prioritize and use time management to stay atop of track and school work," says Leatherman. Like all things in her life though, Leatherman was able to adjust. She jumped right into the spotlight as a top thrower in the highly competitive Big Ten. In her first major meet ever with Penn State, Leatherman placed first in the shot put and broke a Penn State record in the 20-pound weight throw later that day.

Leatherman's first year continued to be a coming out party for the track and field star. The year raged on as she continued to win events, break records and turn heads along the way. The year culminated with Leatherman taking home a Big Ten championship in the hammer throw event and earning All-American honors at the NCAA championships. Although it's no secret that she is an extremely gifted athlete, Leatherman attributes her success to Coach Wenger.

"Coach Wenger shows an incredible amount of support," says Leatherman. "Even If I said 'I'm going to run the 10K today,' she'd still support and encourage me."

Currently, the senior is heading to the NCAA regionals and the NCAA championships as a top contender. According to Coach Wenger, Leatherman will thrive under any circumstance. "Mentally, she excels in pressure packed situations. I know she'll stop at nothing to win and do her best."

So with all of this said, how could things get any better for one of the top throwers in Penn State history? After the conclusion of her college career, Leatherman will begin Olympic training for the upcoming Olympic games in Beijing in 2008.

Through it all, Leatherman continues to show nothing but appreciation for the way in which Penn State has changed her life.

"I'm just really grateful for opportunities I've received from the university," says Leatherman. "This is the best school with the best facilities, coaches and environment for success whether it's on or off the field."