University of Arizona's top shot putter, senior Zack Lloyd, has a huge personal-best throw of 69 feet even under his belt. The only thing that eludes this college journeyman is an NCAA national championship. Lloyd is looking to accomplish joining the 70-foot club and also getting that elusive title this outdoor season.

What are your goals for this outdoor season?

I'm looking to get an NCAA title under my belt, which is my number one goal. Then my next goal is 70 feet. My best is 69 feet even, so I'm just a foot off.

Do you feel like you can easily hit that mark and things just haven't fallen into place yet or is it something you'll really have to work toward?

Pretty much, I know it's in me. I just don't think that my technique has come together enough to accomplish that throw. I know it will and...it might be farther than 70 feet. We will have to wait and see.

What kind of adjustments will you have to make?

Just minor technical things like staying more over my right leg through the middle and stuff like that. It shouldn't be too hard to accomplish with all the heavy lifting we do. And as I back off through the season even more, things should really start coming together. I didn't really back off too much for indoors.

So, what makes the perfect throw?

That's a good question. It's basically just feeling good at the right moment. Really when you're in the ring...it's when you move the smoothest through the circle out of the back. When you move and you're fast and it feels effortless. That's when you know it's going to be a good throw. To finish that off, you get this little pop off your hand when the shot leaves...and it feels just amazing. You've got to let out a big yell to show it was a good one.

You know once it leaves your hand if it's a good throw or not?

Oh yeah! You can tell a big difference.

Can you explain a week of shot put training for you?

Our lifting starts on Sunday and we lift pretty much Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday—and we have a couple of days to recover for our meet on Saturday, or Friday. Sunday we do our upper body. Monday we go out and we throw a greater amount of throws, but we're more technical with them. Then I usually take Tuesday completely off, no throwing, no lifting. On Wednesday we do lifting—upper body again—then we do throws again, but they're harder throws. Less throws, but harder. We're trying to get more geared for the meet. Then the same thing on Friday, with lots of practice. We take a couple throws and treat it just like a meet so we're completely geared for the meet on Saturday.

What does the diet of a thrower like you consist of ?

My diet? I actually try to eat about five meals a day. Five to six meals a day. I eat in the morning around 7 a.m. Then I have a have a meal-replacement shake around about 10 a.m. Then my lunch at 1 p.m., which is perfect because I lift around 2 p.m., and that gives me enough fuel for my workout. Then, I eat again at 4 p.m. and try to get in a couple of meals...if not just one more meal around 7 p.m. If I feel like I need extra calories...I'll eat again around 10 p.m.

Who are some shot putters that you look up to?

The number one thrower that I look at is—the guy I think is the best thrower of all-time—the world record holder Randy Barnes. I know he got in trouble a couple of times, but that doesn't change the fact that he's got one of the best techniques. I heard of the strength level that he was at and what kind of athlete he was, so that's the one that I look up to.

Do you watch his videos on YouTube to get yourself pumped up to compete?

I watch his world record throws, actually his world record series, which was at UCLA. I usually watch it every night or every other night. Not to sound like a creep, but I like to watch it and get that image in my head. When I go out to practice...I know what I want it to look like.

What was your 2008 Olympic Trials experience like?

It was a great experience. It was my first major competition outside of NCAAs. I've never been to the USA Championships. But I didn't get past the qualifying round. I've never competed in that kind of atmosphere before against Adam Nelson, Reese Hoffa competing right next to me...Cantwell. I was real nervous, so getting those nerves out will help me out during my career. The more I compete at those high-level meets, the better off I'm going to be.

Why did you bounce around so much from college to college?

That's an interesting story. The coach I'm coached by now, Craig Carter, is actually my high school coach's coach. When I was in high school, Carter was at Utah State. When I signed, about a week or two after I signed, he had gotten another job somewhere else. I was kind of stuck at Utah State for a year. I had nothing I could do...so, I just went there my first year and had a great experience there, liked the coach and everything, but thought if I wanted to get better then I had to move on to find a coach that better suited me. It actually worked out with perfect timing, because at the end of my freshman year, I met Nicole (his wife) through track, who went to the University of Utah, and we met at a track meet. So, it was time to move on. I couldn't get into anywhere else at the time. Then I took that first semester off that second year and ended up going to Salt Lake Community College. That spring semester I took 10 credits or something, just to get some classes out of the way, and was still in contact with Carter, and went down to Provo a couple of times to train with him. He told me to go to Mesa Community College because one of the best coaches, for a community college, was there and if I wanted to go to a division one college then I'd have to go through a community college to get my associates degree then I could move back up. So, I went to Mesa with my wife Nicole. As I was there, Carter got the throws coaching job at the University of Arizona. So, I thought, “perfect, we'll just head over to the University of Arizona.”

Four colleges?

Yeah.

As a married man, how does the go with being an always-traveling, top division one student athlete?

It's perfect because she's a thrower on the team as well. They don't let us stay in the same room, and I can understand why. She goes everywhere I go. We've got every single class together. Our practice, our lifting schedules, we live together. She literally is...my partner.

After college, what are you looking to do?

Nicole and I are talking about it and we really haven't come to something yet. Depending on how this year goes, I could continue with throwing or not. If I continue, I'm going to stay in Tuscon. If not, I'll just have to get a job somewhere.

What's your degree going to be in?

Regional development. It ranges and could open up a lot of doors for me, depending what I want to do. It can range from commercial real estate to city planning and everything in between.

Dating back into high school when you first started, you've been a top thrower. Could you really just put the shot put away and go to a job every day?

Absolutely. My one, and only, true love is lifting. That's something that I'll never have to get away from. So, I think I could.

The shot putting is just an addition to the lifting?

Pretty much. Don't tell my coach though. Just kidding. That's mainly how I got into throwing. I started lifting in high school and the guy that opened up the weight room happened to be the throws coach and he wanted me to come out and throw. When track season started he couldn't open it up anymore until after practice. He said, “well, if you're going to be up here waiting, why don't you just come to practice and throw some?”

All right, can you give me your max bench, your max squat, that kind of stuff?

Power cleans, I don't really catch anymore. The most I've ever caught was about 180 kilos, which I'm not really sure how much that converts to in pounds. My bench, which is actually the main thing I've been working on this year, the last time I maxed out for one rep was 475 once. I could have done more, but I wanted to save more for later. Squats—my number one love—I squatted over 600 pounds in high school. I haven't maxed out for one in a long, long time, but I've done 725 for two. My coach doesn't let me push those either, so there's more in the tank.

Can you give me a crazy throwing-related story?

I've been hit in the neck with a shot put before...from a teammate. He was doing drills in the ring and didn't have a shot put at the time, so I walked out to get my own shot put. Next thing I know, everyone at practice was yelling “heads, heads” and I turned around and looked up. I saw the ball coming and tried to move and put my hands up, but it was so fast that it slammed me in the side of the neck...at an angle. It was a 12-pound shot put...so, it bounced right off and didn't hurt or anything. I kind of choked a little bit.