Prospect alum Erin Reese launches her way to Paris Olympics
From high school state champion to Olympian, Erin Reese is ready to show her strength to the world in the hammer throw.
The Prospect High School 2014 graduate came in third place at the U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials in Eugene, Oregon. She followed up on her performance by winning first place at an international competition in Canada to secure her spot on Team U.S.A.
“It feels amazing. It’s definitely something I worked a long time for, so I’m very excited,” said Reese. “I didn’t find out until Friday last week when they told me that I was getting my uniform and kit, and now I’m ready to go to Paris.”
Reese’s journey as a thrower had an unconventional start. She admits she wasn’t good at many sports as a kid and never dreamed of competing in the Olympics.
“I started track my freshman year at Prospect. Coach Wurster found me in the weight room during a basketball workout and he was like, ‘Hey you should do track.’ I was totally against it. I really didn’t want to run, and he was like, ‘No, I think you should throw.’ ”
Her coach’s intuition was right. After four years of throwing, she broke the school records in discus and shot put and won the IHSA state discus title. Her success led her to compete at the collegiate level. It was another coach who took notice of her freshman year and convinced her to try the hammer throw.
“She had a good natural sense of when to accelerate the implements,” said Brandan Bettenhausen, assistant track & field coach at Indiana State University. “I saw some potential that was really raw. She ended up winning our conference in the weight throw as a true freshman, and that was one of the things that was like, ‘Oh ok, she’s good at this.’ ”
In the women's hammer throw, athletes must throw a metal ball (4 kg/8.8 lbs) attached by a steel wire to a grip as far as possible. Athletes spin three or four times to gain momentum before releasing the hammer inside a marked 35-degree sector.
“It’s very very technical. You have to be able to combine those athletic traits of power and speed and coordination with incredible technique, and that technique takes a long time to learn and perfect,” said Coach Bettenhausen.
After graduating from Indiana State in 2019, Reese continues to train and volunteer coach for the Sycamores while competing at the elite level. She is the reigning national champion in the weight throw (indoor) and holds the second all-time distance world record.
Paris will be the first Olympic Games for Reese. She has never traveled outside of North America and is looking forward to experiencing it all.
“I want to see the Eiffel Tower. I want to get a croissant. I want to drink coffee in Paris. I want to go to the opening ceremony and make friends from different countries. I’m really excited to live it up,” she said. “I’m blown away by all of the support. I’m ready to show you what I can do.”