The hammer throw is a little known and much neglected event outside of track and field circles. Many people don't realize that the hammer is not an over-sized nail-pounder, but a 16-1b metal ball attached to a long metal handle that is whirled about the head twice and let fly, usually soaring 200 feet through the air.

Crimson track tri-captain Tom Lenz, who has broken the school record twice this year, and is throwing consistently around 212 feet--par with the best college throwers in the country--has been attracting considerable attention to hammer throwing this year.

Last weekend at the GBSs Lenz threw 212 ft., 4 in. to win easily, and despite a disappointing seventh place finish at Penn Relays last week, Lenz has won his event in every Harvard outdoor meet this season.

The muscular senior with the classic Roman nose doesn't spend all his time throwing hammers. Teammates describe him as a Bob Dylan "fanatic." A chagrinned Lenz thinks the addiction must be the philosophy major surfacing in him.

Strange Looks

"I always get strange looks when people know me as an athlete and then find out I'm a philosophy major. They don't see the two things mixing very well," Lenz explains.

"My dad is a phil professor at Brown, and for a long time I didn't understand what he was doing with his life. I took Hum 5 freshman year, and I got hooked, too."

The soft-spoken senior will spend next year travelling in Europe where he plans to study "government and sports funding" on a Shaw fellowship, then return to Cambridge for three years at Harvard Law School.

Whether he will want to continue throwing the hammer after this season remains a questionmark with Lenz: "It's hard for throwers, once out of college you're really on your own; there aren't coaches, facilities, or the financial support available. I'd probably have to go out to a cornfield somewhere to practice."

Alone With No Nails

Throwing the hammer is an individual pursuit; a thrower competes against his own physical limits and previous best distances more than battling opponents.

"No matter how well you do on the first throw, you've still got five more left to go," Lenz says. "You've got to stay mentally tough. Concentration has to be intense."

Lenz started out playing football at Providence's Classical High School in the only state in the nation where the hammer throw is a high school event. Eventually his coach, one of the country's few high school hammer coaches, introduced him to throwing. "He influenced a lot of people to start throwing things," Lenz recalls with a smile.

Big and Bright

At 6 ft. 2 in. and 205 pounds, the Leverett House resident cuts a formidable figure, but not among the breed of hammer throwers, who average between 225 and 250 pounds. Lenz relies on his speed and excellent technique to overcome strength or size deficits, and often defeats much larger opponents.