DANIEL ARRHENIUS

Daniel Arrhenius is just starting his senior year at Mountain View High School in Orem, Utah and he has already made a name for himself. Daniel threw the Discus, as a junior 189-1 and the shot a prodigious 62-9 feet. Those marks may be the best double for a junior in the nation. It did not happen by accident.

Anders Arrhenius is his father and coach. Anders and I lifted together when he was a thrower and I was the strength coach at BYU. Anders threw the collegiate shot over 65 feet and benched 550 pounds just to give you an idea of his prowess. Anders learned how to train and throw in his native country of Sweden. For those of you who followed BFS for awhile, he was a teammate of Stefan Fernholm. Anders has, from father to son, handed down the "secret" of training which is the same secret we at BFS give to athletes and coaches.

Anders believes in teaching his children at a young age even as young as nine to run, jump and to lift very light weight for technique and form. The real training begins in the Arrhenius home during the 7th grade year. Daniel maintains a 3.8 GPA and is in the German club. He played basketball as a 9th grader and football in his sophomore and junior years. Daniel grinned, "Football games are a blast to play." However, at this writing, it remains to be seen if he will play football his senior year or concentrate more fully on his throwing events in track.

Daniel believes it takes a lot of hard work to be successful. "You should never miss a workout or a practice," stated Daniel. "It takes consistency to make things happen. I like the BFS motto of 'reading your body and then making a great decision'. I try to go into every workout with the idea of never failing. I have never missed a Bench or Squat and only one or two Cleans in my life. My dad makes me not want to miss.

"I believe that whatever a person does that it should be fun but if you're not having fun maybe you should try something else. To me, every practice should be worth something. When I prepare for a workout, I think about my lifts. I think about my goals and how much that I am going to lift."

Daniel has never missed a workout. He has never sluffed a class in school or even been tardy. You see, he's trying to push all the right buttons and earn a college scholarship. Daniel would like to be a dentist or a physical therapist. "I just keep trying to do my very best. That way, I can keep my options open," said Daniel who is wise beyond his years.

"The most important things in my life are my church and my education," contemplated Daniel as he thought about keeping life in its proper perspective. Daniel has an amazing story to tell about drugs and alcohol. "Coach Shepard, I have never had a drop of alcohol and I have never seen a drug of any kind. I couldn't get within a hundred feet of that stuff. I don't know maybe drugs are on the rise but no one has ever asked me to even drink and I have never been to a party where drinking or drugs were going on.

"If you do drugs or alcohol, you just would never know how good you could have been. I have seen from where my dad works just how that stuff can screw you up. I just want to make the most of the talents I have been given."

As you can see, Daniel is an Upper Limit person who has been blessed by a great family and a father who takes the time to be with his kids. We wish Daniel all the best and we look forward to following his career which should be exciting and wonderfully successful.