University of Massachusets Athletics
Jenn Iasiello Leads UMass With Quiet Dominance
February 09, 2005 | Women's Track & Field
Feb. 1, 2005
There's a place out behind Rudd Field that is not on any campus map. As a matter of fact, the place doesn't exist unless you are told it is there.
It is a stretch of open field that in the autumn lies lazily under the quickly balding changing trees of the season, alone and silent, in the summer it's undetected, and in the deep winter lies untouched. It has thick, leveled grass, and is mostly used by locals and their dogs. On the far corner of the field there is a rust cage that is slouched over by years of being deprived, and in front of that elderly cage there is an imperfect concrete platform, one which was made just a few years ago by throwing Coach Bob Otrando, because there was none. It is here that you can find a normal girl, with an extraordinary ability and her coach six days a week striving hard to be the best at what she does.
Jen Iasellio is much like any of the 20,000 undergraduate students at UMass. She is a senior, she lives off campus with some friends, and is an Exercise Science major. She has little to no clue about what next year will bring for her. Yet there is one thing that Jen is fairly certain of, her desire to be the best at the Hammer Throw.
"I want to go out on top," Jen says with a determined look on her face.
In a large University where the alumni and students attention tends to be paid mostly toward a rebuilding basketball program and a football team stuck like so many other collegiate football programs, in the purgatory of Division I-AA, our University boasts one of the premier individual college athletes in New England.
Jennifer Iasellio grew up in Barrington, Rhode Island, a small New England town, much like any other. According to Jennifer the only highlight in Barrington is the Dunkin' Donuts.
"It's the kind of town that everyone knows each other, and is a nice place to grow up," she says as she protects her eyes from the sun.
It was there that her mother, Susan, and her father, Anthony, raised Jennifer. Jennifer first sport was softball, she use to catch in middle school and early on in high school, and it was there that she gained her competitive drive. Yet, her desires to be part of a competitive team lead her to trying out Track and Field. Initially she joined the indoor track team in the winter, yet by the time the trees began to blossom and the birds began to chirp it was decision time for Iasiello.
"My Track coach asked me to stick around for the spring season and try it out, and from that point on, Track won out," she said.
It was in High School that Jennifer went under the tutelage of Bob Gorley. A man Jennifer credits for teaching her the art of the Hammer Throw.
"He kept things positive and taught me what I needed to know. My mother was a gymnast and my father was a swimmer, so they didn't know anything about it," she mentioned.
Jennifer also gives credit to Bob for opening her eyes to the fact that her abilities could take her elsewhere. "Colleges look for this," she recalls her coach saying in a conversation with her back in High School, "If you can do it well they will offer you a scholarship", and with that in mind, Jennifer began to pledge all her efforts to being the best.
After four years of High School at Barrington High, Iasiello left her imprint on the track and field program. Throwing the discus, the shotput, and the hammer (luckily for Iasiello Rhode Island is one of the few states in the nation in which the High School Athletic Committees recognize the event), Jennifer left the school with a laundry list of achievements. Four year letter winner, school record in the hammer throw (151' 7'') and weight throw (47'), All Division, All Class from 1998 to 2001, All State in 99 and Senior Captain, just to name a few of her many achievements.
Jennifer gained the attention of most major schools in the country, as she was national ranked.
"Before I became serious about Track, the only schools I was looking into were small local Rhode Island schools, but once Track took off, letters started pouring in from everywhere, and coaches were calling asking me to visit and telling me they would give me scholarships, it was crazy," Iasiello said.
Yet Jennifer had an idea of where she wanted to attend.
"I wanted to go to a big school in a quiet town, and not be too far from home," she said.
After a visit to Amherst, meeting the team and sitting down with Coach Otrando, Jennifer decided that come the Fall of 2001, she would attended the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
"I wanted to be a key player", Jennifer said, "and UMass gave me that opportunity".
Being a freshman in college can be quite a difficult time in the life of a student. Balancing education, social time, and everything else can be overwhelming. Yet the life of an athlete means that there's even less free time for you.
The very mention of freshman year brings a smile to Iasiello's face, almost as if she is recalled the entire experience in a quick flash,
"When I came here I wanted to please everyone, and prove myself to the team," she mentioned.
Jennifer had to fill into an unusual role for her, being second best on the team.
"When I came here there was another girl from Rhode Island here, Christina Bizon, and she was the champion in the Hammer Throw at both indoor and outdoor, so I fell into a secondary role," said Iasiello said.
Yet soon enough, Jennifer would have the forum to prove herself.
Freshman year Iasiello did a phenomenal job in her secondary role. Once again her achievements piled sky high: 4th place in the hammer throw at the A-10 Outdoor Championship (147'3''), 6th in the weight throw at the A-10 Indoor Championship (45'1''), 15th in the weight throw at the New England Indoor Championship (46'3'') and 10th in the hammer throw in the New England Outdoor Championship (151'0'').
Yet the following year Jennifer's friend Christina would transfer to conference rival URI, and her role would become more vital to the team.
"When she transferred there a lot of my teammates were like ' There goes ten points, because Crissy is on our rivals team', so I felt I needed to step it up for my teammates," said Iasiello.
The opportunity to step up confronted Iasiello in the Atlantic 10 Outdoor Championship on Early May of 2002. It was there that Iasiello was marked an underdog in the hammer throw and face to face in competition with her former teammate, friend, and defending champion Christina Bizon. Iasiello admits that her teammates seemed to already had conceded victory to their former teammate, but Jennifer had no plans on going out without a fight. Going into the final throw Jennifer was in 3rd place till another competator on their final throw knocked her back to 4th.
Iasiello credits that for lighting her competitive fire.
"For some odd reason, after that I became really determined, and I said to myself, 'I' am not losing this competition," she mentioned.
She still recalls turning to a male teammate right before she began to warm up to throw and saying to "I'm going to win this now". What pursued was a throw of 154 feet and 2 inches (or for a football fan 51 yards), a throw that any punter would be happy to kick, a personal record for Iasiello, an accomplishment that would win her the Atlantic 10 Outdoor Championship in the Hammer Throw.
"I just remember hearing my name being announced as Atlantic 10 Champion and throwing up the number 1, and 225 pound Coach O jumping around in excitement," she smiles at the memory of her day in the sun. "It's a feeling I still reflect on to this day."
When asked about what she wants to achieve this year, Iasiello says, "I want to go out on top. I want to do the best I can. I don't know what the competition is like this year, and I really don't care. I just want to beat my best."
"The best part about Jen is I never have to worry about her", said Coach O, "I know she's always prepared mentally, and it's nice to know that she is a big time performer, the bigger the event, the better the throw."
It's with this attitude that Jen will embark on her senior year of Track and Field.
"Hopefully we can get her to beat the school record," Coach O said. "That would be special."
