South Fayette thrower hungers for PIAA success
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Sam Mastro
Sam Mastro warms up before tossing the discus at the South Fayette Invitational. The senior won the event with a toss of 161 feet, 11 inches. He also won the shot put in 51 feet, 2 inches and went on to capture Field MVP honors at the meet.
Sam Mastro has an insatiable appetite at the training table as well as in competition. In fact, the 18-year-old senior hungers for success.
“Winning states,” Mastro said eagerly when asked what his career highlight is. When he realized he hadn’t accomplished that feat yet, he quickly corrected himself. “Hopefully, it will be winning states this year.”
By far, finishing fourth in the 2016 PIAA Track and Field Championships for discus is the pinnacle for Mastro. It’s the motivating factor behind his success this spring.
“Even though it was two years ago, it gave me a feeling that I am able to compete at the highest level. It made me realize that I am right up there with the top throwers in the state and that I am able to compete at that level. That’s carrying me through.
“Now, I want to go in the circle and feel I am one of the best. I am the guy to beat. I’m going to be at states and I have the ability to compete right up there with the top guy, if not be the top guy in the state.”
A year ago, Mastro was hardly the top guy. As a junior, he didn’t even get out of the district competition. He placed 12th in the discus and sixth in the shot put at the WPIAL finals.
“Last year, I did so poorly that I didn’t even make it to states,” Mastro said. “That’s motivating me, too. That’s making me hungry.”
Focusing on technique, as opposed to distance, provided food for thought for Mastro. He said that during his junior year he was concerned with hitting a certain mark to gain the attention of college recruiters and attain a scholarship offer.
“I was too focused on getting that 179 (feet) that I thought, ‘Oh, I’m good. I got it,’ that I relaxed. I was worried about throwing far more than getting a nice tempo that would allow me to throw a state-qualifying mark. This year, I have that down, that I don’t have to worry about how I might crash and burn. I’m definitely more consistent.”
Mastro ranks among the top throwers in the WPIAL this spring. After winning the discus and shot put at the Butler Invitational, he took home Field MVP honors at the South Fayette Invitational. He won the discus with a throw of 161-11 and captured the gold in the shot put with a toss of 51-2.
While Mastro has been winning, it hasn’t been as impressive as when he threw upwards of 179 feet last year in the discus. The poor weather has factored into results this spring.
“Honestly, I wouldn’t call it a great start this season because I threw 179 last year and I want to really get close to that mark and match it,” he said.
“The weather has been bad but you just have to take the competition you have. Just do the best you can. When it’s bad and there is no one who is outstanding, it’s hard to push yourself. But when the weather is good for nice throws and you get good competition to push you a little bit, then you can get over that edge to keep decent throws going.”
In the past, Mastro and the rest of the district and state had Jordan Geist to push them to the limit. The Knoch graduate, who won multiple WPIAL and PIAA titles and set national records, is already shattering NCAA records in his freshman season at the University of Arizona. Mastro and Geist trained together as members of the Long and Strong Elite Throwers Club, based in the North Hills.
“This is the first year throwing without him, and for me it has been harder because I would practice with Jordan. When you watch the best thrower in the country and you are around him, you just pick up so much. He’s an outstanding, outstanding competitor and an amazing athlete,” Mastro emphasized.
Mastro did not become one of the best throwers in the WPIAL overnight. It took a friend to convince him to come out for track and retire his baseball mitt. Once he did, Mastro was hooked. Through diet and weightlifting, he improved by leaps and bounds. Plus, he honed his technique.
“At first, I really didn’t consider track because I loved baseball, but after my first year I loved it. I got decent at it but I was still small because I didn’t lift weights.
“So I did a lot of lifting and a lot of throwing. It sounds kind of obvious but when you first start out, you can have all the technique, and once you get that down, it can only take you so far. Technique goes a long way but you’ve got to get the weightlifting down.”
While Mastro “messed” around with the weights with his dad at the gym, he did not get serious until ninth grade, starting a lifting program and a diet. Mastro has learned to manage a 5,000-calorie a day limit.
“For throwing you have to eat a lot, but the hard part is you have to make them good calories and not bad ones. I went wrong with that when I first started. When my coach said eat 5,000 a day, I said I’m OK with that. I can do that, but McDonald’s twice a day doesn’t help. I gained a lot of fat that way. Over the past six months, I was getting tired of fast food and decided to eat better. I lost weight, a little more than I want to but that’s how it goes. I should have kept eating the good food to keep up the calories. It’s hard to balance.”
For Mastro, it’s been a balancing act with school. He attended Robinson Township Christian School through his elementary years. Though he throws for South Fayette, he is home-schooled. He maintains a 3.7 GPA. He plans to major in computer science when he matriculates to Liberty University, where he will throw for the Flames.
Balancing the discus with the shot put is a tad simpler. Mastro prefers the discus. At 6-1, 230 pounds, he has a natural build for the event because of his long arms and height.
“For me, it’s always been more fun,” he said. “It’s much more fun to watch something fly 180 feet than a shot put fly 50 feet.”
Mastro also prefers finesse to brute strength.
“For shot put, you will see a lot of big guys who can just chuck it on pure strength, which is great, but you will see they don’t have much good technique and then you will see them throw the discus and it won’t go far because discus is a more technical event. You can get a big guy who can just get a shot put out there, but for discus you really do have to be able to hit the position. … The shot you just chuck. Discus is more precise. You have to do a lot more things right to get the result that you want.”
On May 17, Mastro is looking for WPIAL championship results. He expects Zach Gehm to provide the stiffest competition. The Seneca Valley senior finished third in the shot and discus last year.
“I would like to win WPIAL and I would like to win states,” Mastro said. “I think those are realistic goals. Zach and I are both two of the top returning throwers. He’s up over 173 and I’m right there. So it’s going to be a battle at WPIALs and at states. I can’t wait for that.”
At 179-2, Mastro holds the school record at South Fayette. It’s also a personal record. While Mastro relishes the mark, he can’t wait to see somebody shatter the standard, perhaps even his brother, Michael, who is a seventh grader in the middle school.
“Being home-schooled, to come into the public school and get a record there is nice. The previous record was only like 150. So it was nice to put it out there – it could be there for a few years. Hopefully, someone comes along and beats it. Maybe my brother,” Mastro said. “I want my brother to beat it. That would be impressive.”
Even more impressive would be a finer ending at Liberty. First and foremost, Mastro said, he wanted to succeed academically. Then, because he is going to a Division I school, succeed athletically. Beyond that, Mastro has no plans, not even Olympic endeavors.
“Honestly, the whole Olympic thing has never really been a thing that has interested me. I’ve never been like Olympic good but All-American is definitely a goal. I don’t know about winning an NCAA championship because there are some monsters out there,” he said.
Age: 18
Parents: Michael and Anna
Siblings: Mariah, 16; Michael, 14; Hannah, 12; Zachary, 7
Class: Senior
GPA: 3.7
College choice: Liberty University
Major: Computer Science
Book: Pride and Prejudice
Author: Jane Austen
Movie: The Shawshank Redemption
Food: Hamburgers
Best place to get one: Pine Grill in Somerset. “They have one called the Mountain Burger. My dad and I always talked about it. It’s really big and really good.
Restaurant: “That’s difficult because my mom makes a lot of great food so we don’t have to go out much. Her chicken puffs are my absolute favorite.”
With whom you would like to have dinner: Ben Shapiro, conservative political commentator and host of the Daily Wire. “He’s an outspoken speaker but I absolutely love listening to him.”
What will you be doing after you graduate college: Working in information security. “I want to specialize in cyber security. It’s one of the, if not the fastest growing fields and there is a huge need for ore specialists in that area. That kind of stuff interests me.”