JFIFC    $ &%# #"(-90(*6+"#2D26;=@@@&0FKE>J9?@=C  =)#)==================================================" }!1AQa"q2#BR$3br %&'()*456789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz w!1AQaq"2B #3Rbr $4%&'()*56789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz ?u"# tzY:G,!l0] WIn;Kv|TOg Ī,ŦZ~?Bi& r?絳ϗ҇]i쭳d:^S9oZ; c .k;ƺ:B 3zj6 )|uCsgk8I< NG>hGWs q^i-"?"\'!cnHMK[M.7F;W3GXB?kdk,9T>,I a#~։5|(QճtQQZMzIX&b95]kwڴxщ ngHQJ i"0㚸Ԋnr'er=j?oΰWw0ۘ"r%>S\ 49ȓr;Vudv:j]Z(dS>4qlAOv>>/Dg WGk+ ;ymy 1fPN`c^Z}ap*pOַ~cOQ:c5k]8M}f̝U 8ݏʮm:a;ViF؅hbF2`?z\Zln$X地=kе5 '3~%9؈ $~U-N ``$bHUW.TH$0֮D:9ɹDO/20rro޽ӮO35@F~@^k[TM=u>z)z;QYfNtQzr*,!V!Z0}g}!4M, >b˂wsZ##>/jֶ-"琠$0^U5k瓽k[.)hM;]qpV$5ZG X96yſ TaEL6E)[tT@8VkulFq^{f ؇`Ҫr?8xTڕGZ5~Gki 'KknCFF2Ă3W/mD,nU%iHFOιfE`_G^ZSU0ͦb"r[ +֨ڏ4$m&edE @p`Ϯ6!^sW9wSg5|NɓOusoScD1j/%FOO¸`~U!l['}CԋDğεϗD>xVGN{O>4IG뚵<Gr#֊\ {抋VHm@E;sܼx<=y;G`sWt) Z_0`ސ,{b[nZU\'Ob6ru3Eq{եՙ25,fJ4SGzgްu;m\ٌbE]cpz@'mn=;k*hViG_IsLtɭ;G%I~vHw UӪ+.Me`?)Ö:TSID< &Po\qT7XTH8+殺K+tK7 5i4$ vE9SM>zt}ECNJ~MS_*[8f¨3Q}6y&s9gJh#Xo OC"\h\0qpzږw"ê;BCylUZid}yάAABNwuh7B5ILԂ ~t|jr>O4RQ\s-m㹎1"+dta4X Vnrly2}5[٭,Lf |֥kve=Y쬜ą,N9ҳe2N#>cTԱ19%$҇kW:å$Y#0 j2#8[h^}$7ёқ,>dE Zh\4W[Ad#QiMFM!ƛ"^+4m#+b2=8]bF *׌W)}i-4*Jf%=rz ?ΗJJ9 z1qJ^ƕW5gY$[v8?J%Y+(Bc|OG\ag85GURw渹Z+;N<ȎJnx0*uѢ˹Hl@mk癛}ǭjY[',6 UcΔbZ`s/JcfvzyF2=|W$pjjZװ!BcB\xnł;T`D1ZA =Đ>2n4#sK7Q{=GlSVBg0Y!Ve;mF77ڬZէ>4bfVuT'8#1๕< KgZc3GGZΧ%՝CR@""Ez9Jyn1޿ʯ,UDURY܂q޹g361UPŠ]*aYLp$g֢5.S-hʨ;FjM30K1멥-ϛY謁Iv:qEiӼh([R>[N@0ɜQ=F qu+-J[dsCzս덧[đ[Qy&0B{ T#Q]^^TNW(]Pcmx-ӿ-N m?Opdcyq{Iukp"9{VV*sےh1h/S֢I>bW .ͬlIOl=j逯$sR jepaQ BO`I/ %V3\Ѕ(~q8M{$>b Ԛ6Q#EV@258\sdʶ|O 8?J#U)ya+K3>!tĮ%r3oΨKŨN,.!S_1M7/ser=J dWKfP90=ꆟ,spT94 :VR[ٝʯBamTbXUeOFXeb[Y,wL` U]ߓ9Bnk3Ʃ!!]zsRĆ5!q\>s"ұp U{0rGxUt :5es>H(gI ɸ!WDsBvT[ޛqG? -nhaq]U\ƲBC{+֤va&6-,[*3Fn#SUN>8ח.y N)RjB2[D"PFq '-Ґ *ߞV MgTz~i|"Q%eX߯*oU1|\{.B;9SWDijqQ=A_{P}?QS6lnee4=K!PN8&dZDWK)P#<#ޟ/fL_YE~Gg.؟M_k>\xWb{In rz{Y<$m Yc욌wO;RRjºū0N~b%GCG5Z|A@*hևi6mH?Uyv0:3KqЎ/^'n! Bǫ,|b[k—ȗ/qc;Y}pi9tThGS'EEX-Z#5~O ?@~*&iO17=9Ғ .r٫V]HWs4.zgUE{lor9`-ɖٹEBD@+ǨvV3< |o|Y([ V4Vh:VO͙W+ӀdõYX(T>PzgNIGS:1Dr\_|STfFykZq ؑF >gYPl|N]1jMH79m~y-L#%:uuӡO[ǘKUvK)P+[9gҪO|9]W~7 xutQ8kYNPfJ#!pN0rOS9*?6DY̞bg=?|8Š7$dE>5nuo7."q4Y# 8"UNr*>sR8֬f<7?/&D)HTcxx mG)zWK~ͽbE"뎪9IFR CMutlTvhۭOi7ys| ~}' GC+/5[jF }WG\Wx7$"A؎ڔe}Ռx8FO4c:vC``tO@$91Y5M1::|L=N.>=YqX%cqQ^>22Փ{œsT|vNDՂmD*>6Ҷ$!\w5u7\T;"asqAʛ>J*6n}jTd d v8Eb F0y]݄/!ذ8Uv]NR=cR$uy4X$VY9ZM2@e|vjZ 㫖!f49ַ|JmfHpk2H/G y $7AJǯO*>ӧFn#+X-L6csq\# ҫyڗ* 8=9=={+sØ'8+>ᣟ7_?e_g~ZcOs>"}qBO]%rnMƹp=Vc??4nIRFT} >` h 4UWdJT 79\:T*҆bN '׃P} )YJ_C6=L^2r*,${kIg"G>Bmq͙aUg?sζ OwD=׃ZOtpؗrDdf|2?s9hҟ6JO@V4nl*Ռd,j8)54kդݨ9?bN>_eu-Yo/r(ʮ1nB5ŶFK}8]l ElTi, **FE~j3Ȫ֬/A  9?D?ID{Ұ"`ђTR|dVnU8$^pJ#=ǵNv>GNqOsju>c=x"=>hCxY:Qgu<μw.E^U=SPJǡC0UeՙO57`gշҘ3q?٧Jn;:*Fq[Ȓm( 頌C *@Eu:N.Y44^cuJ*\ uKCuH<ןk!MN[C`O@OaGsEj0JԉֹcR%]*uC I8= N h=yҝECT 2NE)~_'4QZE/BVϏdx5Ib CE\vG3. nOX Š*Pz/=+t] Ms5m&3:(|H(ucj1Mr2$]M=c$QUQ q'h3ݎD̼+!WnXğrMVuQ1LI(Vj<4QR_4QEs.<br>Tapio Kuusela, an Olympic weightlifting and powerlifting champion from Finland (who also happens to be an old lifting buddy of BFS President, Greg Shepard), is Amy's coach. He commented on Amy's technique by explaining, "Most throwers use four turns, but Amy will never have to learn a fourth turn because she reaches her max speed in three. The fourth turn was designed for people who are quick, but not explosive. Being explosive is talent." Kuusela is a former BYU All-American hammer thrower himself.<br>Since Amy picked up the hammer in 1996 she has only gotten better. It is amazing that Amy has only been throwing the hammer for such a short time and is doing so awesome. This last year she placed second in the hammer throw and fourth in the shop put at the NCAA finals. She competed in the US Track and Field Championships and took second place. Having so much success, she was selected to participate in the Pan-Am Games and took third. While competing in the Goodwill Games in New York, she won the bronze medal. Coach Kuusela said, "Amy is a very talented athlete that knows what she wants. Good athletes need to be able to think and understand and Amy does a good job at that. She has lots of potential with a good power level, but it is not fully converted at this point. As a young athlete still in the beginning phase of hammer throwing, she has a real shot at breaking the world record."<br>Weight training is very crucial to a thrower's success. Coach Kuusela explained, "the power clean is the most beneficial lift you can perform for the hammer throw, but remember, as a hammer thrower, she only trains with weights, to help benefit the throw."<br>So what is the key to Amy's success in the hammer throw? Many coaches and teammates claim she has great technique and I will agree to a point, but, the key comes from her great explosive power, which she has developed through training with heavy weights. Amy is the strongest female athlete I have ever met in my life. I watched her power clean 220 for 3 reps with perfect form as if it were nothing. Then we went over to the squat rack where she worked her way up to 410. She was just recovering from the flu and said she wasn't feeling that great, I can't imagine how she trains when she is feeling well and at total capacity. I was disappointed to hear from Coach Kuusela, that I had just missed watching her squat 520 for a new personal record, a few weeks ago. Since then, Amy has moved into a different training phase where she focuses on taking the brute strength that was gained from heavy weight lifting and incorporating it into throwingthe 8.8 pound ball they call the hammer.<br>Amy loves to explode on the weights. Her favorite exercise is the power clean. Her best is 253 lbs.! Since her attention is focused on the hammer throw she doesn't bench press, but she has done 275 lbs.<br>Many athletes in this day and age have stumbled across road blocks in their lives, yet managed to overcome these trials to be labeled champions. Perhaps the rough and rocky road they have been forced to walk is what polished them into first class, fine tuned athletes. Amy is an athlete that has had to work hard to overcome adversity. When Amy was in high school her parents divorced. As we talked about overcoming hardships and coping with negative aspects in life, Amy commented by saying, "Everyone has obstacles and you can make them to be as big as you want, it's just the way you go about handling them. The important thing is how you react and deal with the problems, that's what makes you a better person. I could have used my Dad's drinking problem and my parent's divorce as an excuse not to be happy and accomplish my goals, but I didn't. Some people choose to use negative things like this as a crutch to lean tXls|+v!Y