Full Name: Pat Cole
Sport: Track and Field
Position: Thrower
Major: Kinesiology
Graduation Year: 2015
Hometown: Hasbrouck Heights, NJ

What new challenges come with being a member of the Big Ten Conference?

It's definitely a bigger stage, and I think everyone feels the pressure of performing well at this new level. I've always been confident in my abilities, I scored well in the ACC the past 3 years, but the Big Ten is a different animal that we're all pretty excited to take on.

What has been your favorite moment as a student at Maryland?

I had a great time doing the talent show. I loved watching everyone come out and surprise people with their talents and seeing everyone come together. I also hosted a welcome event for about 4,000 freshmen last September, and that was cool. I was standing on a stage in Byrd staring at a wall of 4,000 people and I've never really done that before. The energy I got back from the students was awesome and a really cool memory to have. I've thrown my personal records before but those aren't my favorite days because there's always more that can be done. This past season I threw my personal record and I felt like I had so much more in me and my form kind of broke down. Mentally I was kind of unstable after realizing how far I've thrown, what it felt like, and how there is so much more in the tank. But it's hard to choose just one moment because it's been such a great moment overall since I've been here.

What is your goal for this upcoming season for both you and your team?

Personally my goal is definitely to break the school record. It's been up for almost 30 years by Alan Baginski, it's currently 194 feet and 3 inches and I threw 190 feet last year, so I'm just a few feet off and I'm looking to break 200. I'd like to break the school record and score high in the Big Ten for the hammer throw. (Note: since the time of this interview, Pat broke the school record with 194 feet and 11 inches. Read more about it here.) Team goal is just go out there and compete. We're a small team, only so many strong, but coach Valmon always says the strength is in the numbers so everybody has to do their part. So as a team we want to go out there, leave it all on the track, leave it all on the field and compete well.

Is there a Big Ten team you most looking forward to competing against?

I've got a few buddies who throw at Purdue but I'm just excited to get out there and see them all. My plan is to travel when I graduate and I've been lucky enough to travel with the team the past 3 years so that's exciting to go out and see new people and new places; it's one of the best parts of being an athlete here.

What other sports did you play growing up?

I was a football player; a pretty decent high school football player.

What coach or teammate has had the biggest impact on your career?

It's between two. Mike Theuerkauf who is my throws coach back home, he helped me out a lot. I had some problems within my high school coaching staff and I went to Mike to kind of just figure myself out and get solid coaching. Mike competed in the ACC doing the shot put for UVA in '91, and he completely changed my technique and my style and really educated me on the event and helped me grow up and get through a tough time my senior year of high school. He was also really good friends with Roland Desonier, our throws coach. And Roland has been a saint to me. He's really taken me as one of his sons and my father even calls Roland my second father. Roland's been very patient and he's one of the most loving coaches you could ever have and he's the reason for all the success we've had in throws the last 20 years he's been here. I'd also like to mention my father, Hartley Cole. He has provided me with a platform to be successful since I could walk. I was not very athletic as a child, but my father would not stop searching for a sport or activity that I enjoyed and could excel in. Thankfully, I eventually grew into my body and started playing football and doing track. My father has spent countless hours driving me to practice and to DeFranco's Gym where I've spent the past 8 years for my strength and conditioning. I have an enormous support system at home; I wouldn't be where I am now without Mike, the guys from DeFranco's and most importantly, my father.

If you could play one other sport at Maryland what would it be?

I don't know, probably either field hockey or gymnastics. I love watching the field hockey games and I have a pretty mean back tuck in gymnastics.

What is your favorite class you've taken at Maryland?

My favorite class was Dr. Brown's course on psychosocial aspects of raising an athlete. It deals with children in sports from a psychosocial perspective. I know for a fact that I am going to be a wonderful father just from what I've had from my father, he really instilled a lot of great characteristics in me that I feel I'm going to be able to pass over to a child. And if that child does decide to be an athlete, whether at the youth level or in the pursuit of something greater, Dr. Brown's class definitely prepared me and gave me the tools I need to be the best father I can be in that aspect. Granted, I'm not trying to rush into fatherhood but I'm definitely looking forward to it one day.

Other than your back tuck, what is one talent you have that most people don't know?

I'm decently musical. I can play guitar, I can play harmonica, I dabble with a little singing. I like impersonating singers more than trying to make my own voice but I have a good time playing guitar. My girlfriend sings like an angel, she's incredible, and she plays guitar and her father plays guitar so the three of us will have jam sessions every time we go home which is fun.

What is your favorite food?

All kinds of food. Any kind of food. Slow cooked meat over rice.

And favorite place to eat in College Park?

That's a tough one. It's in between the pho place, Pho Tam, and probably Marathon Deli.

If you could say one thing to the donors of the Terrapin Club Scholarship Fund what would it be?

One thing… I don't want to be cliché and just say thank you because that's too easy. If I had one kind of sentence or phrase it would be that from a student-athlete standpoint they go kind of underappreciated and I don't know if every athlete realizes how much they do for us. I think they deserve the most recognition out of anybody. Student-athletes, coaches, faculty members, because they make it all happen. I don't think they realize how much they're appreciated from a student-athlete standpoint and we wouldn't be here without them.

Typical Day in Season:

Wake up, have a few eggs, some oatmeal, some toast, and maybe a PB&J. Maybe make a smoothie and throw some veggies in there. Get up depending on the class schedule get out and get all my work done. Hopefully I don't have any class after practice because I go out and try to break records every day. There's a different intensity that comes with being in season. Everything you do has to be beneficial. I tell the throwers when I'm giving them advice on technique or just life, there should be no wasted movement. In the hammer throw, discuss, shotput, there should be no wasted movement. Every ounce of your energy is going towards that one goal of putting your implement further than you've ever put it. So that's what the season is like, you have to be very smart and very wise in the choices you make in and out of the circle. In the weight room, in the classroom, it's definitely a different kind of responsibility. Wake up, eat right, throw, get a nice lift in, and make sure you're sleeping well at night.