Shattering Jackson's throwing records

Before the start of the 2008 track season, the throwing portion of the track record book featured the Rushin family.

While sophomore Jill Rushin merely has been changing the numbers beside her name as the best shot put and discus athlete in school history, her father's discus record has been surpassed. And he doesn't mind a bit.

Senior Jacob Bullinger broke Richard Rushin's 26-year-old record and ended his 27-year run atop the list, but it likely wouldn't have come without the help of Rushin himself.

Rushin spends his time away from his day job assisting his daughter and the other throwers in Jackson's program.

"He was one of the main reasons I broke his record," Bullinger said. "He was very instrumental. For a guy to do that, to help somebody break his own 27-year record, that says a lot about him."

There is no shortage of kind words being handed out among those involved with the throwers in the Jackson track program this year, because the school records being set are nothing to sneeze at.

Bullinger's top discus throw of 167 feet, 8 inches, which came at the SEMO North Conference meet, is the best in Southeast Missouri this season. He heads into this weekend's Class 4 sectional meet at Eureka as a district champion and the top-seeded thrower.

Jill Rushin's new standards in the shot and discus on Saturday won her the Class 4 District 1 titles and made her the top seed in the sectional.

"You can't beat those two," Jackson coach Steve Wachter said. "They're tremendous."

And he's not just talking about their track performances. Wachter repeatedly has expressed how impressed he is with Bullinger and Rushin as students, as team leaders who want to get better.

"It's a great thing for the coaches and the coaching staff to have kids who want to excel that much and work at it," Wachter said. "They've been tremendous all year with attitude and work ethic."

Added Nathan Norman, who coaches the throwers: "They are good athletes, but they're working machines. You won't find anybody who works harder at their sport than those two."

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Bullinger handed out more credit than an Oscar-winning actor in talking about the people who have helped him get where he is.

"I'm not putting anybody down," he said, "but if I was in any other school district, I wouldn't be throwing this far. We have great support here. There's no one negative, and they're behind me in everything I do."

The Jackson coaching staff includes Wachter, Norman and former head coach Bob Sink.

"Coach Sink was a throwing coach, and he'll come over and see something that coach Wachter or coach Norman didn't see," Bullinger said.

And there's Rushin.

"I think he even knows more than Norman does," Bullinger joked.

But Norman, a football and wrestling standout at Jackson, said he only threw the shot put in his senior year because of Rushin's urging.

"He's been a great help," Norman said. "He was helping Jacob the whole time and encouraging him to get the record, and he was the first one to congratulate him. The guy loves the sport."

In addition to his teammate's father, Bullinger's own father has played a large role in his improvement. After Bullinger's freshman year, Jacob and his father, Joe, constructed a discus ring on their property.

"He makes me push-mow about a 200-foot-by-75-foot lane," Bullinger said. "I'll go out there in the summer four days a week and get about 50 throws in. I still go out there on weekends.

"Thankfully, I can control where I throw. I've never thrown them close to the highway. I have thrown some off to the right, but they just land in our field. I've busted one swing that my parents had to pay heavy money for."

With the ability to spend extra time at home throwing, Bullinger saw his numbers improve heading into his sophomore season.

"I improved a lot from freshman to sophomore year — about 40 feet — because as a freshman, I didn't know what I was doing at all," Bullinger said.

But this season has brought another big jump in Bullinger's discus numbers. His best mark last year was 146-2, also in a winning effort at the SEMO North meet. He threw a 142-1 to finish 10th in the state last year.

This season, Bullinger followed his school record May 5 with another throw of more than 160 feet to win the district.

"It could be that I'm just realizing this is my last year, my last shot," Bullinger said.

The three-sport athlete already is enjoying a fine senior year. He was a lineman for Jackson's 11-1 Class 5 state semifinal team and wrestled as a heavyweight.

"Football was a lot of fun this year," Bullinger said. "Going as far as we did, this was the chance of a lifetime.

"Those sports helped build muscle. But what I also think it does is help me get a competitive edge. The more you compete, the better you are at competing and the more positive you are. In this, it's you against yourself."

Chasing the record also provided motivation for Bullinger.

"To see a guy work as hard as he does and have a love for throwing like he does, it was a good feeling," Richard Rushin said. "The only thing, after hearing how old the record was, it made me feel old."

Rushin, who competed for two years at Southeast Missouri State, had set the school record as a junior in 1981, and reset it again as a senior. His standard when he graduated was 163-8.

Bullinger has one other big number he posted: 32 on the ACT. That has helped him earn academic aid to attend the University of Missouri, where he hopes to study civil engineering.

He also will walk on to the track team to compete in the discus and the hammer throw.

"I think the hammer will be really cool," he said. "I've watched it and I've thought, 'That's crazy how far they can throw that.'"

A good college hammer throw is about 240 feet, Bullinger said.

He will need to extend his school record to be a contender at state, with marks in the 170s and 180s already posted at other district meets in the state.

"For sectional, I want to make sure I get one good throw in [to qualify] and then gun it for the rest," Bullinger said. "At state, I'm just going to try to go balls to the wall and hope to get them all in."

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Jill Rushin could be called "The Natural" when it comes to shot put and discus. She set the school records early in her freshman year on her way to placing in both events at the Class 4 state meet.

"Her father groomed her from a young age and started with the technique," Norman said.

Jill Rushin recalled her first competition in the Show Me State Games when she was a fourth-grader.

"I didn't enjoy it because I wasn't as good and I got beat," she recalled.

Her father remembered it more clearly.

"She was successful, but she probably didn't realize it," he said. "She set the state record at the Show Me Games in the fourth grade, but she and another girl kept setting it. The other girl had the last throw, and she got the record. Jill doesn't like losing, and she took a break."

When Rushin picked up the sport in junior high, she had success and began enjoying it.

"I worked hard and got better," she said.

2007 was a breakthrough debut season for Rushin. She finished sixth in the state in the shot put with a throw of 40-6, less than 2 feet off the winning mark, and was fifth in the discus at 127-8, less than 7 feet off the top distance. She was the only freshman in the state's final 15 for the discus.

"We never dreamed that she'd place in the state in the big schools in her freshman year," Richard Rushin said. "That was quite a surprise."

She has crushed those marks this year. At the district meet, her marks were 43-4 in the shot and 142-2 in the discus. Both would have topped the state last year.

"I'm trying to get the Class 4 record," she said, "but trying to better myself is really what motivates me. Getting a personal record is such a great feeling."

She has in her sights for her career the state marks of 165-1 in the discus and 47-7 3/4 in the shot. (Only one other throw in state meet competition has surpassed 46.)

"I've got a goal for her," Norman said, "and I'd like her to be the best thrower in the state of Missouri all-time in the shot, and that's not out of reach for her. It's there for her.

"There's no telling with her attitude. There's an expression I use, 'She's ate up with it.' She loves shot and disc. I'm fortunate, her mom and dad are fortunate that we enjoy the same thing she enjoys. She gets up three times a week and lifts with me before school at 6:30. How many girls do you know would do that? And she doesn't jack around. Religiously, she's on it."

With Jill Rushin's work ethic, she wants to break some stereotypes about throwers.

First, they're not all bullies.

"My older sister, who is in college, always says, 'I'll have my sister beat you up,'" she said. "And I tell her please don't do that.

"And sometimes, the throwers are put down as the lazy people, but we're really not. We work just as hard as everybody with the lifting, and it takes a lot of effort just to throw those things."

In fact, her father says, throwing the shot put was not one of Rushin's favorite things, although it now seems to be her strength.

"It takes a lot more work and wears you out," Richard Rushin said. "But I think as she started lifting weights and improved her endurance and strength, she saw the improvement when she started beating kids that she had been quite a ways behind."

Sometime during her last two meets of this season, she would like to join Jackson's 45 club. Bullinger, Andrew Lysell and Blake Peiffer all threw the discus at least 45 feet in meets this year.

"I hit 45 in practice, but they never give me credit for it," she said. "So they all say I'm not in it. I'm trying to hit that."

Jill Rushin also strives for 4.0s in the classroom.

"I don't like A-minuses," she said. "I procrastinate sometimes, but I've never had a late assignment."

In the coming weeks, Rushin will find out if she's on schedule for a state championship.

"I couldn't be prouder of her," Richard Rushin said. "She's latched on to it, and it's something she enjoys. When you think she's leveled out, she has a big meet, and you just smile with pride."