Nathaniel Nobbs is a junior studying marketing management and finance, and when he’s not studying or practicing, he enjoys being outdoors.
How did you discover track and field?
Track and Field has basically been a family sport since my older sister began high school, and I just followed right in her steps. I actually wasn’t planning on doing track and field in college, but I picked up javelin my senior year of high school and ended up doing pretty well in it and got fourth at states. I decided I’d try to keep it going in college.
How is the new throws coach Janine Kuestner working with the team?
She’s awesome. She keeps a really fun atmosphere in practice, but she also keeps it really serious and is able to really get down to the bottom of what needs to be done with technique. She also makes our training athlete-specific, so I’m not doing the same thing other throwers in other events are doing. She tries to cater it to each of our needs and each of our abilities and what we think will best benefit us.
Has there been any difficulty transitioning?
Yes there actually was. When Coach Ferino left, he wasn’t nearly as involved as Coach Kuestner is with us now. When we’re throwing she’s there watching us throw, when we’re lifting, most of the time she’s there watching us lift. She’s involved in every step of the practice and training process, and that’s been a huge help.
How do you feel about the season?
I’m excited for it. I put in more work this past fall than I have my freshman and sophomore year, and I’ve been able to come a long way on working on technique and hopefully getting to where I’m throwing correctly, which will hopefully translate to some good distances. I’m always a little bit nervous before each competition, but after I complete my first throw typically I settle down and get into the groove. I’m just excited to finally be throwing, because my event only happens for four weeks out of the year, but I’m training from the end of August until now.
How did recently placing first feel?
It felt good to come out first meet and win. The competition wasn’t too strong there and I’d like to have thrown farther than I did, but it felt nice to come out and win and do at least that well right off the bat.
Before you and the team go to a meet, do you have any special rituals or superstitions?
Not really, I just try to make sure my bag is packed and I have every single thing I need and I’m prepared for every kind of weather. I’ll typically try to visualize my throws and what I need to do in competition to prepared myself as best as I can.
Anything you like doing outside the team?
I really like longboarding and boating as well as hiking and shooting, with a little bit of video games mixed in there.
