Eastern junior thrower Kandace Arnold wanted to improve the strength of her legs in high school.

That is when she started throwing, became good and realized her potential to be a college thrower.

“Track motivates me to do well in everything, as well as inspiring me to encourage others to do their best,” Arnold said. “Without throwing and the track team, I don’t know what I’d do. Track really is my life.”

Eastern head coach Tom Akers believes Arnold is a strong competitor.

One of the main attributes that Akers believes she possesses is the ability to not waste an opportunity.

“One of the main things we have told the indoor track team this season is to not waste any opportunities,” Akers said. “If you look at her performances week in and week out, I think you can see that she has improved and given her all with each competition.”

Arnold took advantage of her opportunities this past weekend at the Ohio Valley Conference Indoor Championships; as she won the 20-pound weight throw with a throw of 58 feet, 7.5 inches, and the shot put with a throw of 46 feet, 10 inches.

This is not the first time Arnold has done well at the OVC Championships.

She won the shot put and the discus at the OVC Outdoor Championships last season. She notched the school record in the discus at the NCAA Regionals at the end of the outdoor season.

She won the indoor shot put and was second in the weight throw as a sophomore.

As a freshman, Arnold was second in the discus at conference during the outdoor season and won the shot put as a freshman.

During the indoor season as a freshman, she finished third in the shot put and was fourth in the discus.

Arnold holds multiple records including the weight throw during the indoor season. She is second in the shot put and the discus for the outdoor season.

Eastern throwing coach Jessica Sommerfeld said that Arnold’s success at the 2009 OVC Championships was a reflection of her hard work and dedication.

Sommerfeld said Arnold’s hard work could be shown in her determination even with a style change.

“Primarily, Kandace has only been a two-turn thrower, but as the year has progressed, she has continued to improve with the three-turn technique,” Sommerfeld said. “Going into next year, we intend to continue to work with her on the three-turn technique.”

Along with Arnold’s continued physical improvements, she also developed into a leader for the team.

Akers and Sommerfeld both said early in the season Arnold did not view herself as a leader, but during the course of the season, the team began to look to Arnold for advice and inspiration.

“For her to come out and start the competition with success in her OVC events, it really inspired the team throughout the rest of the meet,” Sommerfeld said. “We had three conference champions and (Arnold) took two out of the three. Her performance got the team a little more excited and it seemed to carry over into the rest of the events.”

Arnold possibly might have had extra motivation to place first in the weight competition, as she was ranked second in the weight throw heading into it.

“Going into the event I was not ranked number one, and it really began to get me focused even more,” Arnold said. “I knew I was going to have to fight to win the weight throw and the shot put, and after I accomplished that, I was extremely pleased.”

Neil Schneider can be reached at 581-7944 or at [email protected].