'Tiny' Tavik Tackles Throws on Track

As a first-time shot putter during her sophomore year at Baltimore's Seton Keough High School, the athletic peers of Chelsea Tavik marveled at the size and power in her lower legs.

"It's a little odd when it comes to my legs, because my calves are gigantic," Tavik said, who has since added the discus, javelin and hammer throws to her repertoire as a sophomore at Salisbury University.

"In high school, people called me 'calf tumor.' That was my nickname on the high school track team because of how large my calves are," Tavik said. "They would also talk about the speed and power in my right arm, which are a big factor in my throwing ability."

It is largely due to those attributes that the 19-year-old Glen Burnie resident came up with her personal-best toss of 47 feet, 2.5 inches—good for a third-place finish at Friday night's NCAA Division III national championships at Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, OH.

Seeded only 17th out of the 24 competitors in her event, Tavik's milestone came on her sixth and final throw, earning her All-American status for finishing among the top eight entries.

"Go out and give it everything you've got," throws coach Tyler Hohman told Tavik before her final throw. "I don't care if you foul, I just want you to put everything you have behind this throw."

Jecel Gerner of the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh finished first and second, respectively, in 49 feet, 7 inches and 48 feet, 7.5  inches.

"As soon as I released it, I looked where it landed and I walked out of the back of the circle and I started crying," Tavik said, according to the Salisbury website. "I knew for me, it was going to be a huge personal record. Then to find out it was third place was just a dream come true."

Tavik surpassed her previous best of 44 feet, 7 inches, having benefitted from pre-meet preparation.

"We arrived here on Tuesday at around 6 p.m., and as soon as we got here, I went right to the track. I got an extra day of workouts in and concentrated on technique and my overall throwing," Tavik told Patch Thursday from Delaware.

"On Wednesday, we went out and we practiced with everybody else," Tavik said, who traveled with thowing specialist Hohmanand head coach Jim Jones. "So I got to see my competition and square off with them a little bit."

A competitor in the Capitol Athletic Conference at Salisbury, Tavik holds school records in the outdoor and indoor shot put as well as the outdoor javelin tosses at 47-feet, 7 inches, 44-feet, 5 inches and 136 feet respectively. Tavik said her personal-best in the hammer throw is 140 feet.

Indoors, Tavik has won conference titles in the shot put and placed third in the weight, which she describes as  "a 22-pound ball attached to a small chain that is attached to a triangular handle," Tavik said. "We spin that around our heads, spin through the circle and chuck it."

Outdoors, Tavik is a two-time conference titlist in the shot put, a one-time champion in both the javelin and hammer and a discus runner-up. Tavik is ranked 10th in the country in the shot put based on her performance in this past winter's indoor track nationals.

"What appeals to me about the throwing events is that I'm kind of like the little fish in a big pond," said the athletic, 5-foot-9-inch, 200-pound Tavik. "I get underestimated a lot for a girl my size, because compared to these other girls, believe me, I'm tiny."

As both a sophomore and junior at Seton Keough, Tavik was a member of Gators' squads which won track titles in the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland (IAAM) conference.

Tavik was a middle distance runner in track until 11th grade, when she debuted as a shot putter and earned her first of two straight crowns in that event.

"Sophomore year, I ended up being the only student at Seton Keough who was on two championship teams—one in softball and one in track," Tavik said, who was a sophomore starter for the Gators' IAAM title-winning softball team.

"I was an outfielder my sophomore year, and my junior year was supposed to be my starting season as a catcher. But then, because of injuries, I wound up not playing softball my junior and senior year," Tavik said. "At first, my softball coaches were sort of disappointed that I decided to stick with track. But in the end, they understood that I was pretty much set on pursuing track for college."

Tavik's throwing success is nevertheless surprising, given the relative inexperience of a girl who was raised in softball-rich Glen Burnie.

"Growing up in Glen Burnie, softball was the sport. I played it from the age of three years old, and I'm still playing it," said Tavik.

"Softball has always been a big sport in my family. My dad played it, my sister played it—both of my sisters play it," said Tavik. "I still play with a Glen Burnie recreation team. I did it last year and the year before that. I love it."

Tavik said she originally started indoor track as a middle distance runner during her sophomore year of high school "to keep in shape for softball," adding "I wasn't doing too badly."

"I was an average runner who sort of kept up with the other girls, but I was nothing special. It was a good opportunity to strengthen myself for softball," Tavik said.

"It was just a very good opportunity to maintain my agility and my stamina from running and to increase my strength from weight-lifting," Tavik said. "It wasn't until my junior year, when I got injured during a run, that I injured my left knee."

As a Seton Keough junior, Tavik suffered what she called "a slight tear in my meniscus," adding "it was nothing that required surgery but it was just banged up pretty well from the fall."

"My coach at the time had decided that my track season as a runner was over, so I started working with the throwers," Tavik said. "One day, I was joking around a little bit, and I picked up the shot put and I threw it."

Tavik's practice shot put debut traveled an eye-opening 31 feet, which, at the time, "was a big deal in high school," Tavik said. "So that's kind of how I became a thrower.

"I love the fact that softball is a team sport," Tavik said, "but track is more an individual achievement that adds up to contributions to your team."

During the ensuing outdoor season, Tavik said she continued to improve her technique under coach Nick Agor.

"He kind of took me under his wing and taught me the basics of shot put to see if we could come up with some bigger numbers. In one year, I went from throwing at about 31 feet to 36 feet. That was my big jump during my junior year,"  Tavik said, who declined to play softball as a Seton Keough senior.

"Coming into my 12th-grade year, I started throwing 39s. But what separated me from the other people and got me noticed by the college scene was when I threw it 40 feet," Tavik said. "That was my senior season when I finally hit that 40 throw. That got colleges going, 'Hey, this girl might have something.'"

Tavik said that college programs at Maryland, Delaware, Richmond, St. Mary's, Frostburg, Towson and Salisbury all expressed interest in her, with Towson and St. Mary's offering scholarships.

Off of the track and away from the sports scene, there exists a less fierce, more cerebral and passionately gentle Chelsea Tavik.

Tavik carried a 3.7 grade average at Seton Keough, and been honored as an Academic All-American athlete with a 3.1 average at Salisbury over the course of her four total seasons of indoor and outdoor track.

An elementary education major, Tavik said she wants to work with children who have Down syndrome.

"I worked in classrooms this semester at the Wicomico Learning Center in Salisbury, which is where I got my first glimpse of children with Down syndrome in a special education classroom," Tavik said, who realized as early as her senior year at Seton Keough that she wanted to pursue that course of education.

"Once I observed classes at some schools with kids who have Down syndrome, that just sort of piqued my interest and grabbed my heart," said Tavik. "So I want to be a special education teacher working with children who have Down syndrome. I just really, really enjoyed working with them when I was in class with them, and I'm anxious and ready to do it again."