Getting To Know Nick Ponzio

USC track and field star Nick Ponzio has made it to the NCAA Championships in each of his first three seasons. His best finish was last year, sixth place, earning him All-American honors. Ponzio is a redshirt senior who transferred from Florida after his freshman year. He placed second at the Pac-12 Championships last spring. His personal best shot put is a throw of 64-1.00 (19.53m) at the NCAA Championships, which ranks sixth on USC's all-time list in the event. The following is a Q and A with the Trojan All-American:

Q: Being a senior, what has been your favorite part about being at USC?

NP: I would honestly say the ability to not only train every day and compete with some of the best athletes that come into this school, but also being a part of a really great coaching staff. I would say being around this great track family. They are what made me want to get up and do everything.

Q: More specifically, what has been the best part about being on the USC Track and Field team?

NP: Being able to travel the country. I think that being able to travel all over the place, especially for indoors because we go all over the country. I enjoy being able to experience different cultures and going to different states. I think it has just been a really great opportunity for me to grow as an individual in many facets.

Q: What has been the toughest part about being a student-athlete, and how do you balance that in your life?

NP: It's been tough. I've had to give up a lot of my own personal time and things like that. There might be things I would rather be doing, but I do the things I know that I need to do. Like being good in the classroom and being proficient out on the field. It's been tough, but I think overall, the individual that I am, I put this first and foremost. I always have in my life. For me it's just been something that I've wanted to do. I've wanted to be as great as I can. Not only on the track, but also off. It's unfortunate that I have to give up some personal time and things like that, but this is what I want to do first and foremost, so for me it makes it worthwhile.

Q: What about the USC Track and Field team, or USC in general, has allowed you to succeed athletically?

NP: Like I touched on, I think the throwers that we have on this team push me to my limits all the time and its been great. The first year I was here, it was just me as a male thrower in the shot put, so I didn't have any other companions to throw with. These past few years, having Matt Katnik come in, and Nathan Bultman and the other guys that even throw different events, it has been really great because it helps me on the track and in the weight room. Its also brought us closer together from some of the hardships we've had individually but also as a group. It's just been really great as a throw squad, what we have been able to do and I think its allowed me to grow going into my senior year, more than I ever could have being alone.

Q: This year, what are your goals for yourself, and for the team?

NP: It sounds cliché but it is just to be the best that I can be. I think for many years I have kind of put a certain mark for myself that I want to do, or a certain accomplishment I want to receive and if I just trust the process, and do the things each and every day that I know I need to do and just trust my coach and just be very diligent in the necessary work that I need to do each and every day, I know that I will come out in the end being the best that I can be. That is all I can really hope for. Only what I can control, so that is what I want at the end of the year, to be the best I can be and see where that takes me. If it's as a National Champion or an All-American, or whatever it allows me to do. I will be happy that senior year I went out doing all I could do.

Q: How has your experience at the NCAA Championships this year helped you prepare for this season?

NP: The NCAA championships last year was great. Two years ago I went and I had a really bad showing, but it was because I was just getting into my own head. I wasn't at the place I needed to be mentally and emotionally because I knew I was capable physically, so last year it was a really great turn around. I had to just have a total change of pace with my coach. It really allowed me to not only be a better person to my teammates at the end of the year, but it really allowed me to trust in what we're doing and it allowed me to become an All-American last year. I think last year was a total turning point in my career and I think its allowed the pendulum to swing to new heights and I hope it just keeps moving forward. So, I hope going into my senior year, it allows me to reach what I said, everything that I am capable of. That is what I am truly looking after.

Q: What are your aspirations for after graduation?

NP: Hopefully I get to compete after college. I want to try to become a professional in my sport. Just because it is something I have always wanted to do. It is a huge dream of mine, to become a professional in my sport, and take throwing as long as I can. After that, I would like to become a strength and conditioning coach. Working with Dan Lange, its been really great, allowing me to see different facets of being a coach for throws, but also a strength and conditioning coach because he does our strength and conditioning. It has allowed me to see different things in strength and conditioning which I can really take into my own career and also work with. I've been down in McKay, and it's truly something I really want to do in my life as a career after I am done being an athlete. So, after college, I definitely would love to throw professionally, or however high I could get, and definitely try to transition into working with athletes as a strength and conditioning coach. That's also just been a huge passion of mine, lifting and things like that, ever since I started.

Q: If you were talking to a track and field recruit, what separates USC from other schools?

NP: Well, I went to the University of Florida first, and I came to USC after my freshman year there, so I know what makes things different, but I don't really know what makes things different among a lot of different teams throughout the country. What I can say from that team to this team is the team comradery here. Everybody wanting to succeed has been just astronomical for everybody. I think that being a team player, being there for your teammates, and being selfless for the things that you want to do and allowing your teammates to excel is a huge part. It's not only good for you as an individual, but its beneficial for you as an athlete. It's going to take you to new heights that you never knew you could take before and that is something that I have had personally. So, as a new recruit I would definitely say to not come in here and cut yourself off from the rest of the team and try to be an individual. It is definitely about the team aspect and that was something tough for me to understand at first, but as I started to do it, especially at the end of last year, it allowed me to emotionally and spiritually become a better individual and it's been huge for me as an athlete in general and I'm grateful for it going forward.

Q: Finally, growing up, what was your inspiration for throwing? What made you start throwing competitively?

NP: Well growing up I loved football. I loved playing football and baseball and other sports. I didn't even do shot put until my sophomore or junior year in high school. I can't really remember. I had a buddy of mine get me into it while I was in high school. And I thought hey, it would be a good thing to do in the offseason just to stay strong and things. I had a misconception that it was just about getting big and strong. I didn't really realize the other facets of throwing that makes it a very athletic sport, but growing up I never really knew what it was, so I can't really say what was a huge inspiration growing up. But definitely when I got into the sport as a sophomore and junior, I started to really come to love the sport and I started to research a lot of different things about it. Seeing the way that these people trained, and the way that these people competed, the intensity and things was really huge for me moving forward and I really wanted to do that. As I started to become better and better into my senior year of high school, I started to get recruited more. It made me take it very seriously. I would say that was the biggest motivating factor. Working super hard at it in high school and you know seeing results and wanting to take it as far as I could.

The future is bright for this USC senior. Ponzio and the rest of the USC Track and Field team opens the 2018 season at New Mexico for the Cherry and Silver Invitational on January 19.

Players Mentioned

Nathan Bultman

Nick Ponzio