Trey Perry - Jan 24, 2018
(Courtesy photo - Caitlyn Nelson)
From seventh grade to his senior year of college, senior Zach Brittain has always had a talent for throwing.
Initially playing basketball and football at a young age, Brittain was introduced to track and field by one of his coaches. He was interested in the throwing events right away.
“My main passion is the discus,” Brittain said. “I just had a natural talent for throwing discus and had a lot of success at a young age, so I just kept doing it.”
In high school, Brittain won Nebraska’s all-class gold medal in the discus and became one of the top ten Nebraska high school discus throwers of all-time. He was 10th in the country in discus his senior year of high school and was also the Class C state champion in both the discus and shot put his senior year.
Brittain’s success carried on to college as he broke Doane’s school record in the shot put with a throw of of 59 feet 6.5 inches at his second meet of the indoor season this year, topping the previous record of 59 feet 5 inches held by Zack Lindsley for five years. Brittain is also currently No. 1 in the shot put in the NAIA indoor track and field rankings and was named the NAIA Men’s Indoor Field Athlete of the Week for the week of Jan. 10- 16, according to the NAIA’s website.
Brittain’s success came to no surprise to fellow teammate and senior, Ben Berreckman, who said Brittain is one of most talented and hardest working throwers he’s known.
“Zach is intense,” Berreckman said. “He’s a very advanced thrower and he could have thrown at division one schools.”
Head Track and Field Coach, Ed Fye, said that one of Brittain’s key traits is perseverance. Fye said that Brittain was injured both of his first two seasons at Doane, marking a frustrating start to his college career. However, Brittain remained driven and pushed through to get where he is now, he said.
“He’s a very competitive young man and he wants to be good at whatever he does,” Fye said.
Assistant Track Coach David Dunnigan, who works mostly with the throwers, said that Brittain has a great work ethic and credits it to the team culture that the throwers have built.
“They push each other in the weight room and they push each other in practice,” Dunnigan said. “They are all improving because they’re working together.”
Brittain said that much of his success has come from working with Dunnigan. First meeting Dunnigan at a track camp his sophomore year of high school, Brittain said that he threw one of his farthest throws ever at the time while being coached by Dunnigan, ultimately sparking his interest in doing track at Doane.
“If it wasn’t for Dunny (Dunnigan), I don’t know where I’d be,” Brittain said.
He said that he also appreciates his teammates and that without them, he would not be throwing over 18 meters. Although, while Brittain sees track as a team sport, he said that he focuses a lot on the individual aspect as well.
“If you’re not willing to work, I’m not going to babysit you,” Brittain said. “If you want to work, I’m more than happy to push you.”
As for the rest of the season, Brittain said that he doesn’t want to put any extra pressure on himself after posting his big throw. He plans to continue on his normal routine and trust in the process throughout the season.
After his time at Doane, Brittain said he plans to go to graduate school, train for a couple more years and then attempt to qualify for the Olympic Games in the discus.