Most athletes end their career after college, but for the four-time All-American and Wayne State alumni Carly Fehringer, her throwing career continues.

Carly is a Wayne native who never left home so she could live at home for free.

You’re all probably thinking, “wow that was harsh,” but growing up and living with Carly, competition and jokes were always at a high between us.

Competition in our house happened 365, 24-7, (basically, it never stopped). But it’s hard to sit here and try to make this about me when my sister is on her way to competing in the USATF outdoor Championships and, hopefully someday, the Olympics.

Carly has been throwing since the seventh grade. If you ask her, she will tell you she never imagined herself being where she is today, but hard work and dedication paid off in the long run.

Carly turned down Division I offers as a senior in high school, and on the day of her graduation, she committed to WSC.

Having that DI “title” wasn’t what Carly wanted. She wanted to make a name for herself while doing the thing she loved most, and WSC was the best place for her to do that. The support she needed and the coaches that were here at Wayne State are the primary reason for her picking WSC.

Track has not always been a standout sport, but throwing coach Brett Suckstorfs and head coach Marlon Brink have together in the last four years attracted more and more audience members and high-quality athletes.

“Carly serves as a great role model to the younger throwers,” Brink said. “They see that consistent, high-quality training can lead you to levels they never imagined being possible.”

Throughout Carly’s career as a Wildcat, she won three conference championships, made seven National appearances, holds two school records, set several meet records, was named athlete of the week numerous times, and was a four-time All-American. She was also named Freshman Athlete of the year, and two-time female athlete of the year as a Wildcat.

The only credit I can take for her being so good at throwing is that I was faster than her. She didn’t want to lose to her little sister in the races, so she stuck with the throwing part of track.

Carly has been continuing to train since the day after her last National meet, which was May 2014. She trains with the WSC throwers while also being a volunteer coach for the athletes.

Her training includes five days a week of throwing and four days of lifting. Once the season begins, she will move to two days of weights and continue to throw five days out of the week.

Weight lifting is no joke for Carly. Jaws drop when people see her in the weight room working out. Her three main lifts are squat, bench press,and hang snatch. Her max for squat is 520 pounds, bench is 250 pounds and snatch is 195 pounds.

I don’t know much about weight lifting, but as you can tell, it is Carly’s favorite thing to do besides throw. And, quite honestly, I’m sure male athletes hate to lift at the same time as her because, in reality, no male wants to see a female out-lift him.

Carly’s career best in the weight throw is 63.07 meters, and according to her former coach, she is capable of throwing 67-68 meters. That should be good enough to get her into the USATF outdoor Championships.

The USATF trials will be held June 25-28 in Eugene, Ore. Competing in the trials has been Carly’s goal once she started hitting marks and improving year to year. The accomplishments she had throughout her career at WSC will be remembered forever, but making the USATF outdoor championships and maybe the Olympics will be an even greater memory to leave behind.

(Caitlin Fehringer is the younger sister of Carly).