When junior Julian Chelsey competes in track and field he describes it as “comfortable” and refers to the two events that he competes in as his “comfort zone.” So it’s not surprising that Chelsey finished in the top 5 in the Marin County Athletic League (MCAL) for both events last year. Chelsey first got introduced to track and field by his dad Clark Chelsey, who threw shot put and discus in high school and at the University of Santa Barbara (UCSB) from 1965-68.
“My dad first started to train me in eighth grade when I was just starting to build the right muscles for shot put and discus. He threw in college at UCSB and was one of the most talented throwers on out their,” Chelsey said. “He also really enjoys it; doing it and instructing it, which makes it a lot easier to learn and grow as his student.”
Clark Chelsey still has the second highest mark in the shot put and fourth highest in the discus throw. Both marks were set in 1968, his senior season, according to the UCSB Athletic Archives. “He wants me to follow on his legacy that he set in high school and at Santa Barbara,” Chelsey said. “I’m amazed the he still holds the records he does at Santa Barbara. I hope I can succeed what he’s succeeded; whether it be at Tam, in college or beyond that.”
Chelsey’s coach gave him marks to reach by the end of this year for both shot put and the discus in order to interest the D1 schools that he would be happy competing at. “To impress the colleges, my coach gave me numbers to hit by the end of the season. My goals are 160 feet for discus and 48 feet for the shot put,” Chelsey said. “Right now I’m at 40 feet for shot put and 140 feet for discus. I think shot put can be done, discus is going to be harder.”
Going forward, Chelsey is one of the top throwers in MCALs and based on his placing at the Meet Of Champions last year he believes he ranks in the top 5 juniors in the state. “Everyone who was better than me last year was a senior, so right now I assume I’m the best in MCALs. Last year I was 10th in discus and 11th in shot put,” Chelsey said. “At the end of the year I went the year I went to the Meet of Champions, for all of California, for discus and placed 24th. So I’m in the top 5 in state.” ♦