Hitchcock Pulling His Weight As Fredonia State Record Holder

FREDONIA – Hard work in the off-season has paid dividends for former Falconer Central School strongman Trevor Hitchcock.

“I worked out all summer with former classmate Bob Schrader at the YMCA,” said the Fredonia State sophomore, who is now the indoor track team’s record holder in the 35-pound weight event. “I worked on technique and spins along with a lot of weight work.”

Last year the former Golden Falcon athlete was fifth in the New York State championships with a toss of 49-3. This year he won the Division III title with a throw of 56-9 and the following week at the Open Qualifier for the Indoor Nationals he had a throw of 57-5.5. The old school record was 56-10.

“I knew he had the ability,” Fredonia coach Jim Ulrich said. “He was outstanding last year as a freshman.”

Hitchcock was the only sophomore in the field of 16 throwers at the Nationals.

“I was nervous,” the 6-4, 250 pound former Falconer athlete said. “I threw only 54-1. I was ninth, just missing the final eight. My first throw was out of bounds.”

“His throw of 54-1 was his worst of the season,” said Ulrich who is in his 19th year at the school. “He missed the finals by 2 inches. He would have loosened up in the finals and made All-American. He was seeded fourth. He probably would have finished fourth. He always has his best throws at the end.”

Ulrich sees nothing but good things for Hitchcock in his remaining two years at Fredonia State.

“He’ll be tough next year,” Ulrich said. “The first five finishers were all seniors.”

But the coach wasn’t ready to forget about this indoor season.

“He had an outstanding year,” Ulrich stated. “His improvement over last year was amazing. I expected him to improve maybe three or four feet, not eight feet. He was way above my expectations. He is very coachable and a tremendous competitor. He is always in shape. He is a self-motivator.”

Hitchcock will also be an important member of the Fredonia State outdoor track team. Last year he threw the hammer 153 feet and the discus 151 feet.

“He has an outstanding chance to make the nationals in both events this year,” Ulrich said.

In high school, Hitchcock was sixth in the discus at the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Championship in his junior and senior years.

“I had him only in his senior year,” Falconer Central School track coach Dave Nelson said. “He was the team captain. His teammates looked up to him. He was a very hard worker and competitor.”

His former Falconer coach, Lucian Lodestro, stated, “I worked with him since the seventh grade and was his unofficial coach in his senior year. He always worked hard. Sometimes he would over train. He was a gentleman, was on a weight program, and always wanted to listen and learn.”