It’s been said that if you want to get noticed, you sometimes have to throw your weight around. That’s exactly what Coastal Carolina University sophomore Amber Campbell did this past spring. Sort of.

Campbell, a member of the Chanticleers’ women’s track and field team, gained national attention for her outstanding performance in the weight throw event at the 2001 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships held in Fayetteville, Ark., in early March. In just her second season competing in the event, she threw the 20-pound weight a distance of 19.65 meters (64 feet, 5 3/4 inches) to capture seventh-place honors at the championships. That mark equalled her personal best toss and allowed her to became the only underclassman to earn All-American status in the event.

“I felt great going into the championships,” said Campbell. “I wish I could have finished higher but overall I am very pleased.”

Amber Campbell

Campbell, a native of Indianapolis, is majoring in psychology at Coastal and was named to the Dean’s List last fall.

Besides excelling in athletics and in the classroom, Campbell is also actively involved with a variety of campus activities. She is co-captain of the women’s track and field team and is its representative on the Student-Athlete Advisory Council. She is a member of the campus chapter of the NAACP and is a community council member at The Gardens, the on-campus residence hall where she lives. She also sings in Coastal’s Gospel Choir.

“I’ve been singing since I was a little girl growing up in church,” said Campbell. “I don’t have a great voice but I really enjoy singing. The people in the choir are just great. We all met at Orientation and decided to join the gospel choir. We just wanted to get to know more people. I think it is very important to be involved in activities on campus. The more you get to experience just adds to a positive campus life. Campus life is all about getting an education, meeting people and having fun.”
As for her substantial success on the field, Campbell gives her coaches a lot of credit.

“I thank God for the coaches I have,” she says. “Coach (Alan) Connie bends over backwards for us. He does everything in his power to help us so we can have a good college career, not only athletically but academically as well. Coach (Carrie) Lane is always there to give me encouragement and is dedicated to taking care of all the details when we are at an event on the road. Coach (David) Vandergriff’s knowledge in the throws is so extensive but he knows how to bring it down to a level where I can understand it.”

Vandergriff, Coastal’s volunteer coach for the throw events, says that Campbell has enormous potential.

“I can give her the recipe but it’s up to her to go out and cook it,” said Vandergriff. “She cooks hard and she cooks a lot. The hardest thing with Amber is trying to make her rest when she is supposed to rest. She doesn’t like to back off from training. She is extremely dedicated and wants it bad.”

According to Vandergriff, Campbell has been able to master the weight throw because of her ability to learn the advanced technique of moving the ball in orbit as opposed to turning the body as fast as possible. He also attributes Campbell’s success to her astonishing strength. She can squat-thrust more than 400 pounds, which, says Vandergriff, is outstanding for a female athlete.

Some of Campbell’s future goals include attending graduate school and qualifying for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. But for now she is content on being an actively involved student-athlete on Coastal’s campus.

“I don’t really consider myself a leader although I know I am in a leadership position because I am very involved on campus,” said Campbell.

“A leader shouldn’t always have to speak out on everything. If you are working hard and doing what you’re supposed to do, people are going to notice.”

Just like they did at the NCAA Championships.