Standing by the sand pit getting ready to throw, Blaine Nunn reminiscences on the advice he often gives others.
“Keep trying,” Nunn says. “Sometimes you start off and it’s difficult. You don’t think you can do it. You see other people doing it better than you and it becomes discouraging. But the more you work on it, and the more you dedicate yourself to it you’ll see results. Just keep at it.”
Once his name is called, he steps into the circle and continues to get better each week.
Standing 6-feet tall and weighing 305 pounds, Nunn has always naturally been categorized as the typical football player. However, it would be after his freshman season that he began to look into playing other sports.
“My freshman year I was looking for something after football. Football season didn’t go very well for me. I didn’t land in a good place, so I was looking for something else. My parents told me to think about getting involved with track and field, so I figured I’d give it a try and I just got sucked into it,” Nunn said.
As Nunn began to compete and find himself making progress in the track and field world, his attention to the sport began to shift.
“I found myself during the football season always thinking about track, because it went really well for me,” Nunn said.
Nunn began his shot put career using the glide technique. This generated some results, but not the results he would be able to compete with. Because Nunn had a rotational way of throwing, his coach encouraged him to switch from a gliding technique to a spin technique. After switching he began to see the progression.
“I used to glide and then in junior year I switched to spin and that helped a lot of my throws. Switching techniques was a very nervous experience. It was weird. I felt wobbly. I felt like I was going to fall, but I was seeing results. Once I got the hang of it, I went up 10 feet,” Nunn said.
Nunn’s personal best is currently 55-feet.
“It was really relieving, honestly. I’ve had a little bit of a drought in practice, not in meets, but in practice, the last couple of weeks. To see myself throw that, it’s really a relief to know that I’m not moving backward but I’m still moving forward with my form,” Nunn said.
Nunn has yet to pick a school he’ll be attending next year but plans to major in business finance while continuing to compete in track and field.
I’ve been talking to a few schools, but I want to go to a bigger school because of coaching. I feel like bigger schools may have coaches with more experience.
Blaine Nunn
Class: 2023
Twitter: @HTXblaine52
IG: @73problemz
Event: Shot Put
Height & weight: 6-feet-0, 305 pounds
Throwers he studies: Christopher Herpin III (Pearland Dawson), Ryan Crouser (Pro)
Status: Uncommitted
Favorite artists: Kendrick Lamar, SZA, Jhenè Aiko
Favorite subject: History
Hobbies: Anime, manga, video games, movies
Shout-outs: Parents, coaches, friends, trainer
