45
GOING TO GREAT
LENGTHS
From undiscovered talent to undisputed record-holder, Michael
Lihrman is on top of the world (both literally and figuratively).
The question is, how much farther can he go?
BY JESSE CLARK • UW ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS
M
ichael Lihrman is the all-time NCAA Div-
ision I weight throw record-holder and ar-
guably the most dominant thrower in the
country this season. But without Deren Wilder, he
wouldn't be here.
Who knows where he would be.
To say Lihrman, a junior from Rice Lake, Wis.,
wasn't highly recruited coming out of high school
would be an understatement.
"I received no offers at all," he recalled. "Not one."
Lihrman didn't compete in track and field until
his junior year at Rice Lake High School. He didn't
really know why took up the sport, but he was
drawn to its individualistic nature.
"I just loved how individualistic the sport is," he
admitted. "You don't have to rely on anyone else to
be good. It's all about how much effort you put into
it on your own."
The 6-foot-5, 250-pound Lihrman picked up the
shot put and discus, but his marks were pedestrian
by collegiate standards.
"I wasn't very good in high school," he remem-
bered.
Upon graduation, Lihrman decided to attend the
University of Wisconsin-Stout because it was only
an hour away from home, it had a hotel and restau-
rant management program that not many colleges
offered, and he could throw at the Division III level.
At UW-Stout, however, Lihrman gravitated to-
wards the weight and hammer throws. It wasn't
long before he figured out those events suited him
best, and he dropped the discus altogether despite
finishing 17th nationally his freshman year.
"I realized that I was throwing pretty far for my
age," he said.
But everything changed that summer.
Towards the end of his freshman year, Lihrman
came home to watch a high school track meet.
He began talking with his old high school throws
coach, Bob Schmidt, about his experience throwing
the hammer. He felt like he needed some guidance.
"I didn't really have a throwing coach at UW-
Stout," he said. "I was kind of self-taught, but I want-
ed to get much better."
He told Schmidt he wished there was someone
around to teach him the intricacies of the event.
Schmidt asked Lihrman if he had heard of Sidnie
Wilder from the neighboring city of Cameron. He
hadn't. So that night he went home, found her on
Facebook and saw that she was a 17-year-old high
