Lissa Regets has always faced the challenges life throws her way. She throws as good as she gets.

Lissa Regets has always faced the challenges
life throws her way.

She throws as good as she gets.

Some people look at a challenge, and run the other way.

Some look at a challenge as an obstacle to be overcome. That is, if others tell them it's possible.

But a select few actually look for a challenge – and then grab it, attack it, and submit it to their will with skill, preparation, and perseverance.

Most of us fit in the first two categories. Lissa (pronounced the way it's spelled), Regets; of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; is one of that rare breed who is always looking for something new to master.

Lissa Regets at the 2007 West Regional Championships 
- Photo courtesy Arizona State Athletics 

The Arizona State junior is a member of the women's track & field program (NCAA Division I National Champion Indoor & Outdoor in 2007). Funny thing is, she didn't participate in the sport until she arrived in Tempe in the summer of 2005.

Regets' mother and father were divorced when she was seven. So financially, things have always been tight. Her mom, Sandra, always told her that if she wanted something, "...just to go get it. But always be prepared and willing to take that step."

Lissa is an athlete by any definition of the word. She did dabble in track in junior high. But in high school at Central Dauphin East, she pursued a different sport each season – field hockey, basketball and softball. She did answer the request of a coach to run cross country for one year, but it didn't appeal to her as much as field hockey, so she returned to that discipline the following fall.

But her best, and favorite sports were basketball and softball.

When looking at colleges, those around her told her to follow the path of least resistance, and head to a Division 2 or Division 3 school where should could make the teams, get an education, and move on with her life.

But Lissa wanted no part of D2 or D3. She always had a desire to compete at the D1 level.

With no programs lining up to recruit her in either basketball or softball, and no money to do college visits outside the immediate Central Pennsylvania area, she selected a school that looked like it would be a great place to go. Plus, there was connections in the area. She chose the Sun Devils of Arizona State.

Her Godmother, who lives near Tempe... gave her a place to bunk when she arrived before she started classes.

One of Lissa's first stops was the athletic department, where she had the good fortune (people like Lissa make their own good fortune) to run into a PA guy who happened to be the Senior Associate Athletic Director – Don Bocchi.

Bocchi immediately pointed her to the Varsity basketball and softball tryouts, where she would try to make the squads as a walk-on.

Things didn't go as planned.

According to Lissa, there was a single spot available on the basketball team, and another freshman who was familiar to the program, had that spot locked up.

No hard feelings though for Regets. She moved on quickly to the next possibility – softball. Problem was, she didn't have any of her softball equipment because she really had not planned on trying out for the sport. And if the truth be told, she only took what she could take for free on the plane. So her softball gear was in transit from PA.

The day of softball tryouts arrives and it was dry. The Tempe area had been experiencing a drought for 110 days. So wouldn't it figure that on Lissa's first day of tryouts, it rains. All she had was sneakers. But when the field got saturated after one rain delay, Lissa was right at home on the football turf field where cleats were not allowed. End of day one.

Day two is where opportunity #2 became history.

The head coach was out of town. The assistant coaches took over practice. Lissa had a class. She chose to go to class, and then raced to the softball tryouts only to find that she was too late.

It looked like no Division 1 sports for Lissa Regets.

But Bocchi had told her that if things didn't work out with either basketball or softball, to come back and see him. (Keep in mind, this is a top Division 1 athletic program – and most programs only talk with the athletes they know and have experience in their sport.)

Lissa says Bocchi told her that he had heard she had "a good arm." So, Bocchi asks, 'Have you ever considered throwing the javelin?'

 

Regets was floored. "I thought it was something they just did in the ancient Olympics. I didn't realize they really did it now."

'Give it a try,' Bocchi says. 'You'd probably be good at it.'

So off she goes to meet with the head coach, Greg Kraft. "A very intimidating man," says Regets. But shy she isn't, and she just followed instructions.

"I'm here to try out for your team," she tells Kraft.

He asks Lissa what she'd like to try. And for the life of her, she couldn't remember it was called the javelin.

Thinking quickly, and knowing that her mom had qualified for the state meet in the jumps in high school in Arizona, Lissa suggests the jumps.

'I don't teach people how to jump who have never jumped,' Kraft (the Jumps Coach) says. 'When they come here, they already know how to jump.'

He nicely ended the conversation, and sent me to see the Throws Coach, David Dumble - another world class coach on a great team.

"I was at practice," Dumble relates, "and this short little blond girl shows up and she's got a note in her hand from our associate AD (Bocci), asking to 'please let this girl try out to be a javelin thrower'." Dumble tells Regets to come back the next day and to bring a softball. She does.

'Throw it as far as you can while running,' was the instruction given by Kraft. She does. And the softball sails at least 160 feet – far enough to impress Dumble.

Within the hour, Regets learns that she has made the track team. "I walked home and I was in complete awe."

Arizona State does depend somewhat on walk-ons in the javelin, because Arizona high schools do not compete in the event. "But usually, our walk-ons are referred." says Dumble.

Over the first winter, they taught Lissa how to lift. "It took a while," Dumble says. "A lot of the walk-ons have never lifted before, so it took some time to get her to understand what to lift, how to lift and what intensity we need."

Lissa apparently has learned well, because according to her coach, she is now helping out with some of the other young javelin throwers to teach them what she has learned about lifting.

Dumble says that Regets is "getting pretty strong for her size." And the pride is evident from Lissa, who currently claims 217 lbs. in the squat, 147 in the clean, and 157 in the bench.

But lifting is just a piece of the javelin training.

Dumble says that because Regets didn't have the repetitions as a high schooler, she is at a clear disadvantage. But he spotted 'good mechanics' when he watched her throw the softball. Plus, he says she has some speed.

With those assets, and her desire to learn and improve, Dumble says Regets is now one of his best. "The jav is more of a body throw (than softball), You can learn the steps. You can learn how to throw correctly. But learning how to put it all together and relaxing, becomes really, really, tough. She's a real student of the sport."

Her coach taught her how to do the crossover, block and the throw, and basically anything and everything about the javelin.

Regets feels that her softball and basketball training have been instrumental in her success in the jav. "In softball, the throw is different, but having a strong upper body helped," she said. "And the footwork with basketball really helped because I'm fast and know how to move my feet, which gives me a really good block at the end."

(For those who really want to know, Regets uses four steps before three sets of crossovers. and then the pentultimate.)

In her first season of throwing in the spring of 2006, Regets came within four inches of qualifying for NCAA Regionals. Her team won the PAC 10 title.

By the fall, she had a choice to make. Basketball or the javelin.

Regets was in a good position to make the basketball team as a walk-on. Would she head back to a sport she had always loved, or would she continue this new adventure on the track team?

 

Lissa Regets at the 2007 NCAA West Regional Championships 
- Photo courtesy Arizona State Athletics

Ultimately, the track team won. With track, Regets says it was the "amazing atmosphere to train in" that helped her to make her choice. And it's no wonder. Surrounded by Jessica Pressley (2007 NCAA Shot Put Champion), Sarah Stevens (NCAA Indoor Shot Put Champion, 3rd Outdoor), and fellow Pennsylvanian Ryan Whiting (NCAA Outdoor Shot Put 4th place), she says it's easy to be inspired by their work ethic.

Lissa went to Junior High with Whiting, and didn't know he was at ASU until she walked into practice one day, and deadpanned, "Hey, I know you."

Lissa hit the weights over the summer of 2007 and got a real kick out of the team winning the indoor title last year. She was ready for outdoor, and started off by getting the regional qualifying mark in her second meet. In fact, she PRed on five of her six throws, setting the school record of 149-07 on her very last effort. Her team won PAC 10, where Regets was 9th. She had hurt her knee just before the meet while warming up; had to scratch the first throw; and then gamely took her five chances. At Regionals, she would finish 22nd.

While thrilled with the team title, Regets was a little disappointed in her season because she had been ranked 5th in the PAC 10 before her injury.

She has two more years to show herself, and everyone else, exactly what she can do. "Training is going really well," she says... "and I have a great understanding of the event."

Her personal goals include improving on her school record by another five or 10 feet, "if not more."

Dumble doesn't doubt she can do it. "She has the potential to throw a lot further."

A double major with concentration in Finance and Public Relations, Regets is considering either financial planning or investor relations.

On such a talented team, she has not yet earned any athletic money, but is still thrilled to be where she is. Because personal money is tight, she does have some need-based grants, but has to work three jobs in addition to classes and athletics.

But for Regets, that's not even enough of a challenge. She applied for the Pat Tillman Leadership Through Action Program (CLICK HERE FOR PDF OF 2007 SCHOLARS), and was one of 16 accepted out of over 300 applicants. Sponsored by the Business School of the university, she is working on a "Go Green" project that will be adapted for collegiate athletic programs and venues. And with a partner, she is working to provide recycling education for all nine residence halls on campus.

And Regets is excelling in the classroom as well, earning individual all-Academic honors along with nine of her teammates last spring.

As for athletics beyond college, Regets is simply focused on the here and now. "If I get to that level, I'll continue. It's a good discipline." She seems just as thrilled that she is so much more toned than she was in high school. She also says she is not just more knowledgeable on the event and in the weight room, but generally. "All this will help me if I decide to coach one day. It's about discipline, working hard and perseverance."

Her coach sees nothing but upside as well. "She's going to be quite a success in a career."

Whatever direction she heads; whatever challenges she has to face; there's little doubt that when facing Lissa, those challenges don't stand a chance.