Austin Hogue’s roommates know him as a big eater. His track and field teammates also know him as a big thrower for Eastern’s men’s track and field team.

Hogue and the Panthers get their indoor season started this Saturday morning with the Early Bird Meet at Lantz Fieldhouse.

The reigning Ohio Valley Conference Outdoor Track Male athlete of the year talked to staff reporter Kevin Murphy Tuesday about growing up in Tuscola, his days playing basketball at Eastern and the furniture he’s built for his parents.

How does it feel be named OVC Male Track and Field Athlete of the Year?

It’s a pretty big honor. I found out a week before our conference meet last year. And our coach came and told me. It’s always nice to get uh get our track team a little more exposure. As successful as our men’s team is, we’re always looking for people to get to our outdoor meets and stuff. It’s a good way to get a little bit of press for our team. From a personal aspect, it was an honor to receive it.

Why did you want to learn how to throw the javelin?

I’ve never thrown before and you knew that. I started throwing eighth grade. I got here and coach knew I had a strong arm and lot of flexibility involved in it. So I’m a pretty flexible guy as well. And of course I’ve got the arms for it or whatever. It’s just kind of putting everything together. Coach Wallace started working with me my freshman year and I think I took third at conference my freshman year. And ever since then it’s been improvement, improvement. And I enjoy throwing javelin. It’s probably my favorite throw.

What people have inspired you along the way?

Not a lot of inspirations. Head coaches that will push me as hard as I can go. I guess I should say family. I guess my brother was always there with me. Being two years older than me, he was a college athlete as well. We would always be there to compete there as well.

What does your food intake consist of?

Actually I’m a pretty big eater. Let’s see in the mornings, I usually don’t eat breakfast. But if I can, I’ll I get up and eat maybe just a banana and that’s just before class, waking up 15 minutes before class, just long enough to throw on some clothes and grab a quick snack at most. Lunchtime it ranges from chicken. A lot of the time I’ll eat sandwiches. Ham and cheese loaf for lunch. Cottage cheese. After that I go to practice. Come home and make a pretty big meal. Me and my roommates, we eat a ton of food because we’re all big guys. If you ask my roommates, they’ll tell you that I eat like a horse cause I eat so much food when I eat. I don’t ever stop eating.

Do you use some type of powder?

Actually, yeah I do. To get a grip on the weight or disc, shot or javelin, I’ll put chalk on my hands. It helps. Sometimes we use adhesives. We’ll also use it for the hammer and the weight throw. We’ll use a glove on out left hand so it doesn’t rip your hand too bad. Mostly, we’ll just use chalk to keep our hands dry.

When did you hit your growth spurt?

Let’s see. I would have to say between freshman and sophomore year in high school. I shot up from about 6-3 to 6-7 and I was real lanky and awkward then. But I finally grew into my body by my senior year, and I’ve only grown an inch since then. I was always a little twig. A little gangly kid until my older years in high school.

What was it like growing up with your brother?

Growing up it was always nice. Him and I would always go at it in basketball outside. We lived out in the country outside of town. So, we really didn’t have much to do besides play basketball or throw the football around. I was always trying to compete as good as he was. I always saw in my eyes as a better athlete than he was. So I was always working harder to try and get to where he was and achieve his success. It’s been good to have him right there with me. We’re still real close. So it’s good.

What’s it like growing up in Tuscola?

There’s not much. We have a good outlet mall. Every time we were in junior high or high school, there like ‘Oh yeah, Tuscola, don’t they have an outlet mall?’ Everybody knows it from the outlet mall. Other than that it’s your typical small town. Everybody knows everybody. We graduated with a class of 62. High School was only 360 people. Word travels quick when something happens. But, you know, I kind of like that small town atmosphere. Real friendly with everybody. I like the small town aspect of it.

What is it like to not be on the basketball team anymore?

I still like to go out and cheer on the guys. It was kind of difficult at first. You know as time goes by it’s getting easier and it’s not like it bothers me any more. I think I made the right decision sticking with track. I’ve been able to excel at that. Splitting time my freshman, sophomore and the start of my junior year was tough to keep on the ball with everything. It was kind of a tough decision. But, I’m glad I made the one that I did. I miss playing every once in a while. I enjoy track a little more than I do basketball.

Track’s kind of like a team sport. Everybody has to put together their event to make the team. You try and beat yourself as best you can to make yourself get better. I kind of like that individual aspect of it. I’ve been traveling to a lot farther places. Hopefully this year in the javelin I’ll get to Nationals in California. I like the camaraderie. There’s a lot more people on the team. You get to know a lot more people. As to whereas with basketball, it’s just a close-knit group of 12-15 guys. On the track team, you got the women’s and the men’s teams. And there’s countless people that I’ve met that I didn’t know was on the team when I was playing basketball and track. The friendships I’ve gained from being on a bigger team has been pretty awesome.

What do you feel to need to improve on your throwing abilities?

Definitely strength. Ever since I’ve stopped playing basketball, I’ve had a chance to put on little bit more weight. Get stronger. Train just strictly for the throws. Technique. There’s always room to improve on technique. And Coach Wallace does a good job of breaking it down for us on video what we need to improve on. Those are the two big ones, strength and technique. You can get a lot of hints and tips from watching bigger throwers like Olympic throwers, breakdown film of them and compare strength and technique.

What are some of your strengths in the javelin?

Well, in the javelin, I beat myself to death when it comes to technique. I definitely have a lot more flexibility than more people would think being as big as I am. Being flexible in the javelin is pretty important. You torque your whole body when you throw. Having previous experience helps when I got here.

What about the other weight throws?

I just started throwing hammer this fall. That’s outdoor. It’s not a conference event. We throw it at some meets. I’ve always wanted to try it and I’ve had time to do it this year. The 35-pound weight indoor weight throw. I started that last year. I picked up pretty well and I still think I was improving at the end of the season. I ended up finishing second in the conference behind Ryan Bennett, our sophomore in football and track. I like learning new stuff. Maybe I’ll someday I’ll get up there and teach my kids and other kids how to do it. It’s always good to have that background knowledge of an event.

What was it like being on the track team with your brother in high school?

Our track team in high school was pretty fun. Our coach, Steve Spears, he would always make it fun. He’d be in his training group, the runners and I’d be over with our football coach, Coach Winkie. He would coach us in the throws. We’d always talk to each other about it at home. How was practice today? It was nice to have him there. He’s a leader. He always did well in whatever he did. We could rag each other. Or hey I did this. What’d did you do? They did a newspaper article on us one day in the Champaign paper, “Hogue brothers reel in track titles.” I went catfishing the night before the Tuscola Open Meet and caught a 15-pound catfish, 25 inch long. It kind of went into how I went fishing the night before and I how I did really well in the jumps and the throws. It’s just having him around for pretty much everything I do.

Are you a big fisher then?

Yeah, I like to fish in the summers when I have free time. I’ve got away from it a little bit since I’ve been at school. But, when I go back home fishing, me and Kenny will go fishing, catfishing all night sometimes. We have a good time with it. I like to catfish the most. There’s a little farm pond outside Tuscola. One of our friends lived out there, and we’d always go out there and fish late nights. I like fishing on the river. Little farm ponds around Tuscola.

Did you have any unique experiences?

It’s always interesting with the javelin. It’s not like you’re throwing a baseball or football. I have a tough time with the javelin. I can remember one meet where I’ve embarrassed myself pretty bad. It was one of my first big outdoor meets. I had thrown well the week before at Southern. We went to the Kansas and there were the Canadian relay national record holder. The No. 1 collegiate guy was there. I was in their flight. I’m with these big time guys. I was a junior, but it was still real intimidating to be out there with them. I was warming up, and I bring the javelin back, and I pull, and for some reason the back tip was so far back that it wacked me in the back of the shoulder. Went out there end over end. People were laughing. ‘I’ve never seen that before.’ I kind of buried my head there for a minute and regained my composure and got back out there and threw decently. That was one of the more embarrassing moments I had at a track meet. I fall here and there at the weight throw at our Turkey Trials meet before break. Coach has it on film. I was watching it the other day. I threw and I think the weight threw me. You’ll have that whenever you’re throwing. Nothing too embarrassing.

Do you like to play guitar?

I love to play guitar. I started when I was a sophomore when I was in high school. Played on all throughout high school. Played the first couple years here. Didn’t have a lot of time. Just these past couple years, I’ve had more time. I’ve been enjoying it. I think see. Two of my other roommates play guitar as well. I’ve play one or two hours a day on it.

What type of music do you play on the guitar?

I play a wide range on the guitar. I’ve played a lot of Jack Johnson lately. Pretty much anything. From country to Garth Brooks, Metallica, to some of the softer rock like Jack Johnson and John Mayer. I’ll sit down and learn it. Read a tab. I’ll sit down with my friends and see what they want to learn. Cause I get bored with after a while. If I like it, I’ll learn, play it and move onto the next song.

What inspired you to play the guitar?

My brother. He played it all through high school as well. He was the one that taught me. He got me started on it. He taught me how to read the music on the Internet. Ever since that I’ve been playing.

What do you plan to do with that major once you graduate?

I’ve thought a lot about it. I’m coming up here on graduation pretty soon. I wanna go into construction project manager, which is hard thing to get right out of college. You have to work your ranks. Hopefully I can be a successful construction project manager.

Do you make birdhouses?

We’ve got a good industrial arts program in Tuscola. I built all the furniture for my parents’ living room. Coffee table, two pretty nice end tables, a little bit of everything. Last night I stayed up over at my friends’ house building our group project. I enjoy working with wood. I wish I could do more of it here. The tools aren’t here. It’s hard to get free time to work.

Have you ever thought about selling your own stuff?

Yeah, I did. Hopefully, once I get settled into a job, I can get a garage, get some tools and make custom furniture for people as well. Tell them what you want and sit down and make it from them. That’ll be for more my enjoyment though. Hopefully, I can make my own furniture in my own house when I get older. I really don’t want to turn it into a job because I might lose the enjoyment in it. Right now, I enjoy building.

Do you have any other hobbies?

Not so much. When I’m not practicing or going to school., I’ll play my guitar. I’ll hang out with friends, other than that you know there’s not a whole lot of time for much else.

Who are you favorite sports teams?

I follow the Bears for football. I grew up as a Cowboys fan and I got away from after they lost Smith, Aikman and Michael Irvin. Got a little bit more interested now that Tony Romo’s on the team. Basketball, I’ve always been a Shaquille O’Neal fan. The Miami Heat, the Lakers and before that the Magic. So, I kind of follow wherever he goes. I enjoy watching college basketball, college football. Other than that, those are my basketball and football teams I like to watch.

Do you like the big guys, like Shaq because you’re a big guy?

Yeah, I always try and learn from those guys growing up. But I like how he carried himself outside the game as well. You know his movies. He always seemed like a nice guy.

What do you think of a Bears-Cowboys NFC title game possibility?

I’m gonna have to go with my Bears, though I think the Cowboys have the better offensive quarterback and receivers. I think the defense is going to hold them. It’ll be interesting to see.

What are some of your favorite movies?

Let’s see here, Rounders, I like Gladiator, Braveheart, some of the comedies I like Dumb and Dumber. Me and my roommate Jimmy stayed up late last night watching Beerfest. It just came out on DVD so we watched that last night until about three in the morning.

Would you say more night person than a morning person?

Oh, yeah, definitely. I scheduled my classes around my sleep patterns this year. No classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. My earliest class is 11 a.m. I’m not up earlier than nine o’clock on most days. At the earliest, I am up at 10:30.

How do you see your future in track and field?

I’ve tossed that idea around too. Hopefully I could finish this year up strong. We have both indoor and outdoor at home this year. My goals set, I wanna be an All-American in javelin this year. I believe you have to finish top 10 in the nation. I am gonna take it one step at a time. Conference is our big meet for a lot of our team. If you get a chance, you get a chance to move onto regionals and the top 5 from regionals go to nationals. Hopefully I can go to nationals this year and then in the summer the Olympic trials in 08. Talked to my jumps coach, possibly training for the decathlon, the off chance of making that. It’s going to be a big time commitment as well. I haven’t really decided what I want to do next year. It’ll be kind of interesting.

What are some of the place to compete? What are some of the best facilities?

We have very nice facilities compared to our conference schools. Probably the best in the conference when it comes to indoor and outdoor conference meets. I always enjoyed going to bigger meets – they always have more funding for their track programs. Went to Georgia Tech, had a real nice field. I’ve always wanted to go compete at the Drake Relays and Oregon. I didn’t get to last year, but hopefully I’ll get to go this year. They have a real rich track program out there. I went to Iowa State last year. First real big meets. They had a real nice facility there. Bigger schools have nice things. For us, we have some real nice stuff in the area.

What have you learned in you four years here?

I obviously learned about my field of study. And not to stress out about the little stuff. The more time you spend worrying, the less time you spend enjoying your time here. It’s winding down for me. I’ve learned to be a little more laid back. Not up tight. Relaxed. Not having so much on my plate with both basketball and track. I’ve had a chance to enjoy my experience here a little bit more.

What advice would you give to underclassmen?

Stay focused in the classroom. Don’t let it stress you out if you’re not doing so hot. It’s all going to work out in the end. Don’t let yet your years pass you by to quick.

What is it like to play in Lantz Arena?

It’s a great feeling. You know my whole first year I sat out. I red-shirted. I was always itching to get in there play. Finally by sophomore year, I got a little bit more time. It’s a great feeling when you got out there. I didn’t get to play in whole a lot of the bigger games, but going out there with a solid fan base for the games. I like being successful in track, but sometimes the feeling you get out of a basketball court, you get those chills, tinglings, but you really can’t match that. In a track atmosphere, that’s definitely exciting, but the feeling you get on a basketball court goes unmatched. One of my best sports moments was regionals track last year, though I was coming 205 at farthest in the javelin. I busted a big throw at 216-feet 7 inches. I was jumping up and down. Coach Wallace was banging on the fence. That probably was one of my best sports moments that I had ever had. The feeling you get out on Lantz Arena, especially when you’re doing well, is really nice.

What kind of guy is Austin Hogue?

I guess my friends, the ones that really know me really well, say I like to put stuff off. Like homework. You know it ends up getting done. I’m not one to toot my own horn. Modest. I enjoy friendships. I’ve got a lot of friends.

Has anyone asked you about your big hands before?

A.H. I shake people’s hands. ‘They’re like oh my god your hands are huge.’ Hey you know, I gotta have them to go with the big body with the height and the length.

Austin Hogue prepares to launch a shotput Thursday afternoon at the Eastern’s Fieldhouse. Amir Prellberg/The Daily Eastern News

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