NORTHBRIDGE – Ari Levine’s breath rose in steam as he carried the plywood makeshift circle and 16-pound shot put to the parking lot.
Hopedale doesn’t have a track – outdoor or indoor – or a field at the school but that hasn’t stopped it from producing track and field stars. Typically that has meant cross country runners at the front of the pack to the tune of four boys team state championships and two individual champions under the tutelage of Joe Drugan.
Levine first tried cross country because of his friend Caden Olsen. Drugan instead saw a shot putter.
“He grabbed it, and he ran with it,” Drugan said. “Not too many guys can do what he can. An athlete doesn’t come along like this in the next four, five, six, seven years, a decade. This kid is different.”
Levine is Hopedale’s school and the Dual Valley Conference record holder as a junior. He ranks No. 2 in Massachusetts this winter, No. 4 in New England and in the top 40 nationally.
“Sometimes I need to remind myself he is one of the best throwers in the state. There’s a certain point like ‘oh Ari PR’d again’ not realizing it’s a school record, it’s a DVC record,” Hopedale coach Kathryn O’Sullivan said. “It’s setting him up as one of the best junior throwers in the country. It’s just Ari sometimes.”
“I love it,” Levine said. “It’s the quintessential power sport.”
That love produced a middle school state championship when he was an eighth grader. Levine began working with Rhode Island-based throwing coach Matt Ellis.
Levine set a goal at that point to improve by 10 feet per year. His coaches’ eyes widened at the lofty goal. Maybe it would be better to temper expectations and be more realistic.
“If my goals aren’t absurdly ambitious, then I can’t be the best,” Levine said.
His winning middle school throw covered 30 feet. Levine’s PR now stands at 57-6.75 (after a win at Saturday’s MSTCA Small Schools Invitational) in his third year of high school. Somehow, he’s on track.
That work started with Ellis in Rhode Island. His parents Jeremy and Susan shuttled him back and forth before he could drive. Levine made the most of Hopedale’s weight room. He was intentional about every rep he took in practice whether the coaches were watching or not. One of Drugan’s friends fashioned the plywood circle so he could throw once the school bell rung.
“He’s been very purposeful with his training,” Hopedale coach Tim Maguire said.
That often leads to cold afternoons throwing between school and meets. Levine appreciates the solitude when he can find it.
“That is where I get most of my work done, because I can focus on myself,” Levine said.
He needs to think about more when he throws during Hopdale’s normal practices or meets. There’s a crew of DVC throwers that train with Ellis in Rhode Island. They encourage and push each other during meets even though they’re directly competing. Levine has also become another coach for the Blue Raiders’ younger throwers. He explains techniques to them he executes inherently now and works through their process.
“From the very beginning, my first day here, he was working with me,” Hopedale freshman Sam Terenzi said. “I don’t know what kind of thrower I would be without him.”
Levine hopes to throw in college. He’s still determining his best options. His sights are on championships in Massachusetts and beyond this season and potentially the national high school record in the long term. That stands at 81 feet, 3 inches from Michael Carter, a Texas native who won Super Bowls for the San Francisco 49ers and a silver medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics.
It’s audacious to contemplate. Absurdly ambitious, even. But for Levine, it’s not impossible.
Contact Kyle Grabowski at [email protected]. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @kylegrbwsk.