Eipers '23 lands All-American honors in weight throw

A campus visit that felt right and encouragement from both a high school coach and a friend brought Carson Eipers to Augustana College. He hadn’t yet met any of the Vikings track & field coaches when he showed up at the first fall team meeting, and asked, “Can I throw?”

Yes, Eipers can throw.

With a dogged dedication even a pandemic couldn’t deter, Eipers has become the best thrower Augustana has ever seen.

The junior recently placed fourth in the weight throw at the NCAA DIII Indoor Track & Field Championships to earn All-American status, becoming the first in school history. He currently has the Vikings’ top three all-time throws, breaking his own record twice this season.

"Carson's story of getting to nationals is one of hard work and determination," said Taylor Hurry, Vikings throws coach. "As an athlete, he has matured over the past year more than anyone will know. He did struggle but kept pushing, never giving up. Everyone is proud to see his work pay off."

What’s also impressive is that Eipers, a shot putter in high school, didn’t begin throwing the weight until he arrived at Augustana in the fall of 2019. When the campus closed due to COVID-19 in March 2020, he talked with his coaches about next steps and decided to concentrate on the weight throw and hammer throw instead of shot put.

“So in the summer of 2020, I bought a hammer and went to the throwing area of my high school, which is pretty much a field,” said Eipers, a kinesiology major interested in coaching. “I watched YouTube videos and recorded myself throwing and sent those to my coach at the time to see what he thought.”

Keeping it fun

Learning to throw is difficult. “Knowing where your body is in the 7-foot circle, knowing how much room you have … you’re dizzy, you don’t know when to let go, it flies in all directions,” he said. “But like everything you do over and over, you get muscle memory and your balance improves, and now if something needs adjusting in the middle of a throw, I know what to do to make sure it goes straight.”

Along with technique, Eipers says the keys to his success have been a strategic strength-training plan and stress management. Having fun is what it’s about, rather than putting unnecessary pressure on himself, especially at big meets.

His mindset before nationals? “I never expected to be at that level, and just to enjoy it was the main thing. If I threw like I knew I could, I would be happy with the result.”

Eipers threw 19.03m to grab fourth place at nationals, close to his season’s PR (personal best) of 19.32m.

Looking ahead

The pandemic interrupted Eipers' athletic career a second time last spring. As a sophomore, he was excited about his first outdoor season, but he got COVID-19 and had to quarantine, which disrupted his training.

This spring, now that his award-winning indoor season is over, Eipers is again focusing on the weight throw’s outdoor equivalent, the hammer throw. The weight is 35 pounds, 16 inches long (better for indoor throws); the hammer is 16 pounds, almost 4 feet long. He has no expectations on making it to nationals for the hammer.

“In the throws world, the general consensus is if you can throw a hammer far, you can throw a weight far, but if you can throw a weight far, it doesn’t necessarily mean you can throw a hammer far because the feeling of it is a lot different,” he said. “I’m just looking forward to doing my best, having some fun and seeing what happens.”