If you've been following the hammer throw over the past five years, Virginia Tech has been the program to beat. Spyridon Jullien took home NCAA titles in 2005 and 2006. Last year, Marcel Lomnicky won the title last year and again leads the nation this season. In the meantime, a pair a men hang right behind Alexander Ziegler, with a best of 72.46m and Matej Muza with a best of 69.83m) and Dorotea Habazin has the second best mark in the NCAA for women and they have a pair of hammer throwers. All this success started with throwing coach Greg Jack took the reins at the school. CollegeHammer.com had a chance to exchange e-mails with Jack this week and he provided a lot of insight on his background, training, recruiting and coaching foreign athletes, and the keys to his success at Virginia Tech.

CollegeHammer.com: To start off with, I know you threw in college, but what led you from throwing to coaching?

Coach Greg Jack: I graduated from Florida State University in 1999. I was looking to go to graduate school and I was actually interested in the administrative side of things within the NCAA environment. I applied and was accepted to the University of Pittsburgh where they had a position for a throws coach. I caught the coaching bug there and did a lot more coaching than studying. I then supplemented my income by becoming an assistant strength and conditioning coach within Pitt's athletic department. After 2 years our throwing program had some success and I was interested in making a career in coaching. I was fortunate enough to get a few job offers and decided that Virginia Tech would be the best fit.

CollegeHammer.com: As a thrower, your specialty wasn't the hammer. However, you've made a name for yourself as a hammer coach since you've already coached a couple of NCAA champions. What has led to your quick success in coaching the event?

GJ: As mentioned I have never thrown the hammer competitively unless you count a few times where friendly wagers were placed at the end of a track meet by a bunch of shot put, discus, javelin guys trying not to kill themselves or each other. Most of my coaching mentoring came in the form of trial and error. I will say I have a somewhat unique background in the hammer as Boris Zaichuck (former world record holder. USSR) was one of my high school coaches. Boris never coached me in the hammer; however my other high school coach Joe Burke who probably is my first and last resource when it comes to coaching philosophy is responsible for picking Boris' brain and doing all my leg work that led to what I attempt to teach when it comes to throwing the hammer/discus and shot put.

I told this story a few times to my coaching friends and athletes. I recruited Spyridon Jullien from Greece. Spyridon came to Virginia Tech with a 63 meter personal best and unfortunately for him he came under the guidance of a guy who did not know anything about coaching the hammer. Spyridon served as a guinea pig and through trial and error, long distance phone calls to Joe Burke, film analysis, a lot of patience on Spyridon's part we were able to get him to win 2 NCAA indoor weight titles and 2 NCAA outdoor titles. I threw myself at the event. I remember telling my boss I was glad Spyridon came in at the level he did as I would not have been ready for him if he was at higher level. Our success started there and I continued to coach and recruit the best athletes I could find.

CollegeHammer.com: I'm just curious how you have gotten so many elite hammer throwers on your squad. Right now you have three guys with bests over 69 meters and another freshman at 62 meters. That is almost unheard of; with current scholarship limits, most schools don't even allocate a full scholarship to the event. How have you been able to get the support from the administration to put together this great hammer group?

GJ: First of all I have the the best boss in the NCAA when it comes to the throwing events. Dave Cianelli, the Director of Track and Field at Virginia Tech wants and demands a strong throwing squad. He wants to have the strongest team he can put together and score as many points at the NCAA championships as possible. The hammer continues to be a weak event at the NCAA Championship level and we have put the resources together to try and take advantage of it. That is not to say there is not good hammer throwers at the NCAA level; however, a 70m hammer thrower is a very formative presence at the NCAA Championships. The talent level (strength, size, speed, explosiveness etc.) required to achieve this in my opinion is less than a 19.50m+ guy in the shot put.....those guys are harder to find. At the end of the day I try and recruit whoever can help us the most at the NCAA level in whatever event that may be. The hammer is a strong event for us right now.

CollegeHammer.com: Another thing that stands out about your group is that all your throwers are foreign-born. You've had some great American throwers, like four-time All-American Kristen Callan, but now all seven of your throwers are foreigners. Is this this by design or coincidence? Do you plan on getting some more American throwers there in the future?

GJ: That's the million dollar question. I get asked this a lot. I recruit the best American high school kids each and every year. I recruit everywhere, anywhere, all the time! The fact that we have 7 international athletes is not by design at all. I try to work as hard as I can and get the best athletes that can graduate and throw far. I offer scholarships to the throwers I think can succeed at the highest levels and I could care less where they are from. Most if not all the throwers we have had here at Virginia Tech have been recommended by former athletes, coaches, and friends. They were pleased with the commitment shown to them and the success that followed.

CollegeHammer.com: What are some of the goals you have this year for the group? Are they very competitive with each other, or do they work together and want to see each other succeed (or both)?

GJ: This current group of athletes is one of my favorites. Pardon the cliché but they are students of their events and they respect good throwing. Whether it is their own throwing, their teammates or anyone else who throws well, they understand what it takes to accomplish this and they enjoy the sport for this reason. They are extremely competitive with each other which is a good thing and something I try to inspire in practice but each one has their strengths and weaknesses and realize what works for one does not work for all. Our throwing practices are held individually for the most part so daily throwing competitions are a non issue. The weight room and conditioning sessions are done as a group and then you can see the juices start to flow and the competitive spirit comes out at times.

My goal always for this group is to have everyone throw their personal record at the NCAA championships. If this happens then everything else takes care of itself.

CollegeHammer.com: Your athletes have been pretty good at peaking for the NCAA championships. Spyridon was at or beyond his best at the meet each year. Marcel Lomnicky threw a season's best last year and Dorotea Habazin was just a foot off of her season's best at NCAAs. Obviously, you said it's your goal to have athlete's throw a personal best there, but how does your yearly cycle build up to that?

GJ: You have probably just jinxed me, Martin! Thanks a lot! We have had some success and hope to continue it in this regard. This is a question we could spend a lot of time on but again I can refer to my old coach Joe Burke (not a well known throws coach outside of Ottawa, Canada but the absolute master of peaking athletes) who spent countless hours working on my peaks in high school and college. [Editor's Note: Burke was the high school coach of Canadian hammer throw record holder Sultana Frizell]. I have taken his ideas and tweaked them to where they helped my athletes. I am not a believer in original thoughts. I try to steal ideas and tweak this to fit in my training model. Everyone has heard the idea "everything works, but nothing works forever". Our training at Virginia Tech takes this to heart. I know this sounds vague but we really train with very different approaches. I will train with a typical 4 week cycle....3 weeks hard one week off, 2 weeks crazy hard....3 weeks moderate, any variation of exercises I can think of and then change the next cycle completely. We do pay close attention to how the body adjusts to these variations and plan the peak accordingly. It may be so simple as X athlete throws a personal record in the indoor season on such and such a date and after our outdoor reload period we will copy the workout that got us to that point with the NCAA Championships being the same time that particular cycle worked.

CollegeHammer.com: I'm always curious to know how coaches and throwers approach the indoor season in the hammer throw. How much emphasis do you put on the weight throw in training during the season?

GJ: We throw the weight when we are forced to. In the fall if we have inclement weather we will go inside and play with the heavy, back breaking, technique crushing implement. The only reason I like this event is it provides another event where our throwers can assist in team related goals.

CollegeHammer.com: You are also in the unique position of coaching foreigners that have experience in the hammer throw, but have never touched or seen the weight throw. How do you introduce the implement to them?

GJ: Only Alex Ziegler, my current thrower, has said "cool...this looks like fun." In Germany he had thrown something similar as a training tool. The others have said "What the hell is this?" ... followed by ... "How far do I have to throw this thing and not embarrass myself?" We just take a few turns and get familiar with the event ... nothing special. Basically the weight serves its purpose of a specific strength tool that we compete with and we never lose sight that the hammer is always our priority. I approach the event with my international athletes as they are doing me a favor by throwing the thing. Usually by the end of their collegiate career they enjoy the fact they have something to compete in during the indoor season. Marcel Lomnicky also my current thrower would rather take a nap on a cactus before he throws the event.

CollegeHammer.com: Speaking of Alex, his opening throw this outdoor season was shorter than most people expected. Is there any story behind that?

GJ: First off Alex is one of the, if not the hardest working athletes I have had the pleasure to coach. He has bettered all of his training personal records here at Virginia Tech. Unfortunately on April 1st he stepped in a hammer divot retrieving his hammers and suffered a extreme high ankle sprain. For those of you that have had this injury you can attest to it being the worst way to sprain your ankle and it does not heal quickly. He competed at the ACC Championships with a cast on his ankle and that is the explanation for his performance. Our men's team was in the running for the team title and Alex did what he could to help our program.

CollegeHammer.com: Well thanks for your time. Best of luck to you and your throwers this season.

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