LEADERS IN ACTION
ANDY SAMUEL, ’20
Where Dreams Land Far and High Andy Samuel ’20 Student-Athlete, Thrower Majors: Communication and Sociology Hometown: Burnsville, Minn. Internships: UND Insider, NASA
Photo by Mike Hess
Striding to the throwing circle, with all eyes upon him, Andy Samuel keeps his composure, even as the adrenaline surges. The trick to a great toss is to keep your head from spinning with jitters and your arm from flinging the ball too early, said the senior thrower at the University of North Dakota. In last season’s indoor home meet, known as UND Open, Samuel heeded his own advice. His warm-up tosses were impressive. He approached the competition with confidence. “I made the finals, and I kind of had a feeling I was going to get a big mark that day,” Samuel said. He hurled the 35-pound ball some 58 feet. It was a top-three result and his personal best, an accomplishment he had consciously reached for in every meet. “It can be hard at first, especially as a freshman, because you don't throw weight in high school,”
34
UND Alumni Magazine | Year in Review 2019
said Samuel. “Getting to college, trying to learn to throw weight is kind of like learning a new language. It's very difficult at first. Once you get the hang of it, it's a lot of fun.” The weight throw is an indoor track-and-field event in which the athlete holds a metal handle that’s attached to the ball, then spins several times before throwing for distance. Samuel’s passion for the event seems innate. When asked about it, he searches for the right words to describe his dedication to the sport, which he took up in high school. “Ever since ninth grade, I just had a love for the sport,” said the Burnsville, Minnesota, native, who gave up baseball to pick up the heavy ball. “I had a love for throwing.” But, Samuel, whom UND’s track-and-field coaches actively recruited, has other passions too. Like videography. A multimedia course in high school introduced
