Tsang makes name for himself as discus thrower
Wade Tsang throws the discus during practice on Thursday, March 26 at the Chico State track. Photo credit: Lindsay Pincus
Senior track and field thrower, Wade Tsang, has been throwing at distances that are placing among NCAA and NAIA athletes. Tsang is now less than 1 meter away from qualifying for the NCAA provisional qualifying mark.
Tsang talked about how he began with sprinting in middle school and high school, but did not start throwing until the collegiate level. Although he did play baseball, he felt more drawn to track and field.
Tsang attended De Anza Community College at the beginning of his school career in 2010. He remained there until 2012 when he transferred to Concordia University Irvine in 2012-2013.
“I was there for a year and a half and it wasn’t the right fit,” he said.
Tsang finally transferred to Chico State in fall 2015.
The best moment for Tsang in his track career is the very first time he threw in college.
“My set up goal was exactly 156 and I hit my goal at 156.7, and it was a very gratifying feeling,” he said.
Tsang’s favorite event to compete in is discus.
“It was probably the event I was least likely to do because I was a sprinter and expected myself to go there,” he said.
When his coach got him to step out of his comfort level, he found he had a knack for throwing.
“I like doing it. If it wasn’t even an event I would probably still be doing it,” he said.
Tsang will be graduating this spring from Chico State. When asked about his plans down the road, he said he hopes to throw after college.
Tsang said he had two very influential people who get him to where he is today. His first inspiration is Gordon Hovey, one of his very first throwing coaches.
His other inspiration is his old teammate from De Anza Community College, Derek White. “He really took me under his wing to develop me into the thrower and the person I am,” he said.
One of the people Tsang said he looked to for inspiration was Sam Mattis, who throws for Penn State.
“The Ohana (family) is really helpful because college you have your ups and downs,” Tsang said
“You can go to anyone in the track family here and they will help you out,” he said.
Overall, Tsang said Chico State was a good fit for him in the end.
Even though he has only been at Chico State for two semesters, he has already put his name down in the books as a star athlete.
Danielle Pubill can be reached at [email protected] or@daniellepubill1 on Twitter.
Marlon Mattis // Mar 29, 2016 at 7:42 pm
Great article on Wade Tsang. I am Sam Mattis’ dad and coach. It’s great seeing such dedication. You can coach a lot of things in your thtower but you can’t coach passion. Keep it up Wade you’ll get your qualifier. Feel free to reach out if you want any technical tips.
Cheers
Marlon