By Rick Pedone
Sports Editor

San Francisco 49ers fans have “The Catch,” Joe Montana’s epic touchdown pass to Dwight Clark that helped the 49ers win the 1981 NFC championship game against Dallas.

Now, Harmony High fans can counter with, “The Throw.”

That would be Chris Bolinger’s dramatic discus throw of 179-8 that at the same time broke Nate Donley’s school record and won the Class 3A state championship at Winter Park’s Showalter Field.

“I never felt it leave my hand,” Bolinger said. “That’s the way it is with all my good throws.”

Niceville’s Charlie Tidwell, who won the shot put championship, threw 175-6 moments before, leaping over Bolinger, who to that point had a 171-foot throw in the bank.

“I didn’t know what to think, except I better throw it far,” Bolinger, who graduated in May, said. “I knew I was going to have to break the school record to win.”

Harmony throws coach Steve Landram, who has coached two state discus champions at Harmony, counting 2008 girls winner Caitlyn Breen, said there was little he could do to help Bolinger.

“I had decided that this was no time for technical advice,” Landram recalled. “I only said to him, ‘You can step it up.’”

With Donley, his former teammate who narrowly missed winning the state championship himself in 2009, watching, Bolinger entered the circle and unleashed the throw of his life.

“I couldn’t watch it,” he said. “I was afraid. I thought it was a good throw, but I didn’t know how far it went.”

When he heard the official announce the distance, Bolinger leaped into the arms of his competitor, Tidwell, and celebrated.

“The reaction of the two competitors was special,” Landram. “It really made me proud to see Nate, there, as well. It was a special day. Chris made one of the greatest clutch throws. It was all him.”

Bolinger said it took a couple of days for the initial excitement to wear off.

“I didn’t really grasp it right away,” he said. “It was great to have Nate there with me when I did it. He said if it had been anyone else (who broke his school record) he would have been mad, but he wasn’t because it was me.”

Bolinger had barely more than a year of experience when he won the state championship. He didn’t compete in the discus until his junior year, when a friend encouraged him to try it.

“I liked it right away,” said Bolinger. “It was something I really wanted to do.”

Bolinger spent his junior year watching and learning from Donley, who placed fourth at the state meet after his throw of 180-feet, which would have won, landed inches out of bounds.

“What I learned from Nate was preparation and technique,” Bolinger said.

Landram said Bolinger, like Donley, listens to instructions and makes an effort to improve every day at practice.

“I’d say that’s the one thing in common between Nate and Chris, that they study technique and they want to do the work necessary to improve,” he said. “I wish I could say that I saw Chris and encouraged him to come out to the team, but I had never seen him before he came to practice. I didn’t take long, though, to see the potential. He has a good body type for discus because he’s kind of long.”

Bolinger, 6-1, 195, a tackle for the Longhorns football team, will play football in college, but his recent success makes him interested in track as well.

“The thing I like about discus is that it’s an individual accomplishment,” he said. “You can determine how successful you are going to be.”

Bolinger’s gold medal is a testament to how successful he was in the spring of 2010.

All County Boy's Track

Athlete of the Year: Chris Bolinger (Sr., HHS).
All-county team: Osceola: Defario Phillips (Jr.), Oscar McGee (Jr.), Marc Deas (Sr.), Oneil Blake (Sr.). Liberty: Jean Leon (Sr.), Decarlo Bailey (Sr.), Robbie Johnroe (Jr.), Hudson Cadet (Sr.), Guelmi Salgado (Jr.), Patrice Pierre (Sr.), Thomas Biejansky (Sr.), Germine Amadis (Soph.). St. Cloud: Bailey Morgan (Soph.), Sean Wood (Jr.), Matt Cole (Soph.), Carlos Perez (Soph.), Luke Gardner (Sr.), Chris Lorfils (Sr.). Celebration: Tyler Osorio (Jr.), Marcus George (Sr.), Chilly Cancela (Jr.).