OHRunners recently had a chance to talk with Matthias Tayala, the multi-talented and multi-sport athlete from McDonald High School. Tayala, a senior this year, finished last season as the runner-up in the Division 3 Discus competition by unleashing a throw of 191-5. Tayala joined the ranks of Ohio's elite throwers last year by uncorking a personal record throw of 193-1 at the Poland Invitational, where he placed second to current Division 1 Shot Put record holder, Dustin Brode. Tayala is has experience with all five throwing events. He holds personal records of 60-10 in the 25 lbs. Weight throw, 177-1 in the Javelin, 152-7 in the hammer and 53-7.5 in the Shot Put to go along with his 193-1 best in the discus.
OHRunners: Congratulations on a fantastic season last year in which you improved your discus PR by over 30’ and finished second in the Division 3 Discus competition at the State Meet. You went from being a good discus thrower your sophomore year to being an elite discus thrower your junior year. What do you attribute your 30’+ improvement to?
Matthias Tayala: Well, after my sophomore year I really dedicated myself more on solely throwing and I didn't play football. I really concentrated on lifting and throwing. I threw and lifted basically everyday up until basketball in which open gyms started around the middle of October. I gained about 25 pounds throughtout the fall and really focused on keeping the weight on during basketball season. By doing this, it really helped me out in the end.
OHRunners: You ended up going back out for football this year, your senior year. What was the reason behind playing again? Do you feel that your athleticism and added weight from throwing would help you in football this season? (photo at left by R. Michael Semple for cu.tribtoday.com)
Matthias Tayala: Well I have some reallly close friends and they all play football. They alll tried talking me into playing all year and I always said no. But they made one last effort and came to my house literally 10 days before the first game and talked me into it. I was the quarterback and we had a rough start at 1-2. I really felt like it was my fault because McDonald had previously went 10-0 the past two years in the regular season but never really made a run in the playoffs. We needed to win out to even make the playoffs. We ended up winning out and actually went further in the playoofs than any McDonald football team since 1994. We lost in the regional finals to Mogadore. We ended the season at 10-3 and regional runner-ups.
I believe the added weight that I put on helped a lot. Being in division 6 there aren't too many 200 pound quarterbacks. I really feel that most defenses had a hard time stopping our versatile offense. I now really miss football and don't regret going out for football one bit.
OHRunners: You're playing basketball right now and throwing the weight at indoor meets. You just opened with a PR in the weight throw of 60-10. How do you train for the weight while playing basketball as well? Do you have a place to actually take releases with the weight?
Matthias Tayala: I think doing three sports really kept me in shape throughout the whole year and really kept me active. I never really had heard of the hammer or weight throw up until after my sophomore year and I really fell in love with the hammer this past summer. But unfortunately I didn't get a chance to throw it in any meets. As for the weight I go to the meets and basically use them as practices since McDonald does not have a place to throw it indoors. The only releases I get in the winter are at the meets. (photo at right by Michael G. Taylor for cu.tribtoday.com)
OHRunners: While discus is probably your best event, you are not only a discus thrower. You have thrown all five of the throwing events and have shown success with all five implements (shot put, discus, javelin, hammer, weight). When I looked at the results from the 2009 Norm Bower Memorial Weight Pentathlon, I realized that you were somebody that had the potential to be pretty good, throwing-wise. When did you realize that you could be successful at throwing?
Matthias Tayala: I threw the javelin in the 8th grade just to try it and I wasn't too bad at it. This past year I went to the New Balance National meet and just threw the javelin down there without really throwing it since the 8th grade. I threw 177-1.5 to win the Boys Emerging Elite Javelin Throw competition. I think after my 8th grade season I realized that I had a lot of talent in the discus and really took it seriously from then on.
OHRunners: Do you have any plans to compete in a meet in Pennsylvania so that you can throw the Javelin this season?
Matthias Tayala: No, I don't have any plans on going to Pennsylvania for a meet, but I would like to find a meet that has the hammer. I know that Justin Welech found some meets to throw hammer at during the 2010 season and I would like to find one or two.
OHRunners: When you are solely focusing on throwing and not playing basketball or football, what does a typical week look like for you? How often do you throw, how many releases, and with what implements? How many meets do you typically have a week? (photo at left used with permission of cu.tribtoday.com)
Matthias Tayala: During track season I usually throw 7 days a week for about 2 hours a day, typically right after school. I usually get about 100-150 releases with the discus and 50 release with the shot put. The day before big meets I really cut down on the amount of throws I do and usually just take about 20 to 25 throws with the discs and 10 to 15 throws with the shot, depending on how I feel that day. I usually have two meets a week, a Tuesday meet, which is usually a dual or tri meet and then a big, invitational meet on Saturday.
OHRunners: What do you do lifting wise? What are your max's in the major lifts?
Matthias Tayala: I lift at Six O'clock in the morning before school. I try to get all the power movements in throughout the week, such as bench and squats along with other lifts on one day, and then cleans and snatches on another day. I switch it up a lot, also. My max in bench is 265 lbs., my squat max is 500 lbs. I haven't really maxed out in cleans since last year, and then my clean max was 225 lbs. My snatch max is right at 185 lbs.
OHRunners: What are your goals for this season in each event? Both distance wise and place wise at the state meet or at New Balance Nationals?
Matthias Tayala: In the weight I would like to hit 70 feet during the indoor season. In Discus my first goal is that I would like to beat the all division state record 0f 204'5" (set by Charles Moye in 1987), but my real goal is to go over 210'. I'm looking hit 60' in the shot put. As for placing, I want to be the state champ in at least one event.
OHRunners: Are you looking to continue throwing in college or would you rather go to school for another sport?
Matthias Tayala: I have been getting colleges looking at me for football recently, but I am going to stick with track. I verbally commited to Kent State University about a month ago. (photo at right by Michael G. Taylor for cu.tribtoday.com)
OHRunners: Why did you choose Kent State University?
Matthias Tayala: I wanted to go to a college where i felt at home and really thought the coach could take me to my full potential. Coach Fanger really knows what hes doing and is one of the best, and i know most of the athletes on the team and it just felt right.
OHRunners: Most throwers are superstitious, whether or not they like to admit it, what are some of your superstitions? Do you prepare the same way on the day of a meet? Do you have a pre-throw ritual that you go through?
Matthias Tayala: I'm not really superstitious, the only thing that could be considered superstitious is that I like to throw six throws during warm-ups. If I feel the need for one morethrow, I will throw one more, but I usually like to stick to six throws on the day of the meet.
OHRunners: Not counting the State, Regional and District meets, what is your favorite meet to compete at and why?
Matthias Tayala: I think the Poland Invitational, or the Optimist Meet at Austintown. I like those two meets because they always have tough competition in the discus, so it really pushes me to throw far.
OHRunners: One last question - What is your favorite aspect of Track and Field or, basically, why do you like track? Why do you want to do track in college rather than football or basketball?
Matthias Tayala: Honestly I just love the fact that I'm the one who determines how far I go. But, I also love how I can still help the team win at the same time. I enjoy seeing and being part of how much the team comes together throughout the year. It is amazing! It's just different then football or basketball, I love it!
OHRunners: Thanks for chatting with OHRunners. Good luck this season Matthias and throw far.