NTL TRACK & FIELD: TOWANDA'S FARRELL PEAKING AT THE RIGHT TIME (2024-05-19)

BY CHRIS MANNING
Northern Tier Sports Report
In throws sometimes the smallest tweaks can lead to some of the biggest gains. In the case of Towanda’s Varrius Farrell, the tweak came in the form of using the right shot. For much of the year the first year thrower had been using the heavier warm-up shot, but once he switched to a normal one that’s when things began to fly.

A few weeks ago he was told he couldn’t use the warm-up shot, the one he had been using all season long.

“They said it was 13 pounds and way too wide,” explained Farrell. “I’m like, ‘what do you mean it’s too wide.’ They’re like, ‘yeah, you can’t use this one.’ I was like, ‘I brought another one, let me use this.’”

Since then he’s gone from being a 40-foot shot thrower to hitting 49-feet at districts, and earning a state berth.

“It feels really good because I really started finding my groove, and then, at the end of the season, I started liking shot put,” said Farrell. “I didn’t like it very much at the start, and at the end, it’s all I thought about.”

The pound-and-a-quarter difference isn’t the only reason Farrell has started throwing nearly 50-feet, as he has also worked on his form. An offensive lineman who dwarfs normal offensive lineman, Farrell certainly has the strength for the shot, and now he’s getting the form.

At districts he came in at 44-feet, and finished at 49-feet, 3-inches.

“I felt I had a foot PR (in me), I didn’t know about five feet,” Farrell said.

He also credits using chalk for the first time to keep a better grip on the shot.

“Some friends in the NTL, they’re all brothers, so they all let me use some chalk,” said Farrell. “I tried that for the first time, and that was a big help.”

Speaking of NTL, they went 1-2 in the shot put at districts, with Troy’s Avery Sens winning with a 52-foot throw. 

“I love seeing the NTL grow, and show that we’re not a laughingstock,” remarked Farrell. “We’re a league of our own.”

As for states, he’s going for the school record of 52-feet, and if past is prologue Farrell’s story is just getting started.

“I’m going to be getting used to a 12-pound shot and see what happens.”

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