Plummer ascends national rankings

Plummer made his first foray into the world of track and field in high school. Familiar with other sports, including basketball, Plummer wasn’t too focused on track until a school administrator went in search of team members.

“One of the brothers at my Catholic high school walked in with a discus and asked who wanted to throw,” Plummer said. “My father was a decathlete at Princeton, Class of ’85, so I thought I might be good too. I was too big to be a decathlete, but I thought I could throw shot.”

During his junior year, Plummer’s ability grew exponentially. Outside of school, Plummer was coached by his father, which gave him valuable additional practice time.

“Having my father helped me a lot because he knew what he was talking about,” Plummer said. “It was nice because we could work around whatever schedule I had, and we got extra bonding time together.”

At the end of his junior year, Plummer competed at the track and field Youth National Championships. He was able to turn in an impressive third-place finish. If his regular season performances didn’t get the attention of any college coaches, Plummer’s domination of his peers at this event certainly did.

“Academics were the first thing I looked at, but [head men’s track and field] coach [Fred] Samara at Princeton was also the 1992 Olympic shot put and decathlete coach,” Plummer said. “With one of the best coaches in the country, it became my first choice.”

Plummer’s success didn’t slow down when he got to college. As a freshman he gained distance in the shot put though most tend to lose distance their first year. During the outdoor season, he threw far enough to qualify for the 2007 NCAA regionals and finished the season ranked 40th in the country.

Coming into his sophomore year, Plummer was sidelined with a herniated disk in his back. He was required to move minimally for four months, banned from physical activity during prime workout season. As painful as the experience was, Plummer gained perspective that allowed him to come back to the sport an even stronger competitor.

“Taking time off let me realize that a lot of things in my life were more important than track,” Plummer said. “Having that perspective allowed me to relax and ultimately to compete stronger. After only three weeks of practice, I placed second at [the] Ivy League championships.”

His comeback performance didn’t stop there. Just three weekends ago, Plummer threw his personal-best distance and placed in the top 10 in the country. Currently ranked 19th, he has qualified for the NCAA regionals and is poised to make his NCAA championships debut. Plummer has even bigger things on his mind, however.

“Since I’m only 18, I can still compete at Junior Nationals,” Plummer said, “so my goal this year is to be invited to compete at Junior Worlds.”

With his new perspective and a lot of heart and talent, Plummer has all the tools necessary to achieve his athletic goals. While most 18 year olds are just trying to maintain sanity, Plummer is grabbing onto his dreams, one throw at a time.