Arnett keeps throwing
Morgan Township senior reaches state meet in two events despite the pain of multiple injuries
One misstep almost ended Bram Arnett’s season.
Cold weather sent the Morgan Township senior indoors to work on his throws a month ago, and he rolled his left ankle during that practice. Tight schedules meant he couldn’t see a doctor for a week, and he eventually learned he’d broken three bones and inflamed a ligament in his left foot.
But Arnett wasn’t done.
“I’d already thrown on it for a week before I went to the doctor,” he said. “And it felt like it wasn’t getting any worse, so I thought it was safe enough to keep throwing and, at least, finish the season.”
That finish will come at the state meet in Indianapolis on Friday. Arnett enters as the No. 2 seed in the shot put and the No. 7 seed in the discus.
Arnett’s latest injury only added to his list of ongoing ailments. He fractured his left kneecap a year ago and said the injury is “structurally healed,” but some lingering pain exists. He also has been experiencing patellar tendinitis in both knees.
Arnett said the pain he feels, if measured on a 10-point scale, is 4-5 when he starts throwing and usually ends up around 9. But when asked whether he considered sitting out the rest of the season, he responded with a casual shrug, as if the idea never crossed his mind.
“I was already so close to sectionals, regionals and state that I didn’t want it to end,” he said. “We were only two weeks away from the state tournament.”
Arnett entered the Crown Point Regional last week as the No. 2 seed in the shot put with a mark of 54 feet, 9 inches and as the No. 6 seed in the discus at 142-2. It was the first time he wasn’t the top seed at a meet. His father Jim, who coaches the throwers at Morgan Township, thinks that was a driving force behind his huge performance.
“That was the first time he’d been challenged this year,” Jim Arnett said. “I don’t think the energy and the excitement and the adrenaline had been there before.”
Bram Arnett won the shot put at 60-4 and was the runner-up in the discus at 168-1, setting personal records in each event.
Those marks added to the family legacy in track and field. Jim Arnett, the only coach his son has had in the sport, is in the Hall of Fame at Huntington University after winning NAIA titles in the shot put.
This season has brought them unique obstacles. Bram Arnett’s physical condition has limited his practice time, and his father’s work schedule of 12-hour shifts with varying start times at the Cleveland-Cliffs steel mill in Burns Harbor affects his availability.
Throwing facilities also are an issue. At Morgan Township, the shot put ring is flood-prone, and the discus area has a fence near the 120-foot mark that gets in the way. So the Arnetts have traveled all over Northwest Indiana in search of practice time, borrowing facilities from Kouts to Crown Point to Valparaiso.
But Jim Arnett said it’s been worth the stress.
“We’ve had a lot of fun with it,” he said. “I enjoy spending time out here with him, talking about throwing and other life things. It’s been great to see his progression.”
Most of the work is done now, however, as Bram Arnett prepares for his final high school meet.
“I’m just trying to be ready — and to have everything working and compete as best as I can and see where it all falls,” he said.