HIGHLAND — No Utah family has thrown the shot put and discus farther than the Arrhenius family.
First it was dad, Anders, who competed for Sweden in the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich before moving to Utah. Then it was Dan, now a member of the Brigham Young University track team. Nicholas, currently serving a church mission, came along to set the state high school mark in the shot put and national record in the discus.
Now Leif Arrhenius, a junior at Mountain View, is keeping up the family tradition. When he steps in for his turn to put the shot or fling the discus, it's not a question of if he'll win — he will. It's a matter of how far he'll throw it or if he'll beat his, or one of his brothers', personal bests.
"That's really what I try to do, beat my best," Leif said, after not throwing his best but good enough to easily win the shot put Tuesday at the Utah County Invitational track meet at Lone Peak High School.
Even though Leif's competitors know they have virtually no chance to beat him, they love to watch him — and even cheer him on. In Tuesday's meet, for example, their shots were landing 30 feet to 50 feet away in the mud, while Leif's were sailing out of the pit on to the grass, almost 60 feet away — generating many oohs and ahhs. He chose not to compete in the discus, giving his competitors a chance to win.
As a sophomore, Leif won both the discus and shot state titles. And he's getting better every day. His career marks are 209 feet 6 inches in the discus and 60 feet 2 inches in the shot. Nobody else in Utah is even close. The winning throw in the discus Tuesday was a respectable 135 feet, but more than 70 feet shorter than Leif's best throw.
And he's not that big, but he practices six days a week — two hours a day — and had great teachers ahead of him to show him proper technique.
"A lot of people think throwing is just being strong, but without good technique you're nothing," he said.
Arrhenius was just one Mountain View Bruin who shined Tuesday in cloudy and windy conditions. Heidi Magill won the 3,200-meter run and teammate Ann Marie Thomas took second. Magill is the favorite in two more events Wednesday and will likely anchor Mountain View's relay team. The Bruins' Mike Steele and Steve Strickland also swept first and second in the boys 1,600 meters.
Shawn Welch of Pleasant Grove won the high jump with a leap of 6 feet 4 inches. The Vikings also won the girls discus, with Leli Fotu's throw of more than 117 feet. Spanish Fork freshman Diane Stewart won the long jump with a leap of 16 feet 10 inches.
Orem's Amber Harper, one of the state's premier distance runners, is not competing, choosing instead to run at a national meet this week in Seattle.
The meet continues Wednesday with finals in five field events and 11 running events.
E-mail: jimr@desnews.com