Short fuse sparks rising star

Tuesday, April 30, 1996

Nada Kawar nears top of competition in shot put, discusBy Scott
Yamaguchi

Daily Bruin Staff

Nada Kawar, future superstar of the UCLA women’s track and field
team, was in need of a lesson, and who better to give it to her
than Valeyta Althouse, current superstar of the UCLA women’s track
and field team?

Althouse, who owns the American collegiate record in the shot
put, is the reigning NCAA champion and the odds-on favorite to
defend her title at next month’s outdoor championships. She is the
best there has ever been in the NCAA, an admirable combination of
pure power and refined technique. She is a student of the sport,
and, as a senior, a teacher to those beneath her.

But this particular piece of instruction did not come in the
shot put ring. Instead, it came on the basketball court, where
Kawar ­ a first-team All-CIF center in high school ­ was
schooling Althouse on the finer points of pick-up basketball.

This was a lesson in humility.

"I decided I would have the kids play basketball," UCLA throwing
coach Art Venegas recalls. "Now, Nada’s what you would call an
aggressive player, she’s like a playground player, if you get my
drift. She likes to talk it up and let you know that you’ve been
beaten and smacked around.

"I would see poor Valeyta trying to keep up with Nada, and she
was getting hammered pretty good. It got to the point where I was a
little concerned for Valeyta’s feelings, because Nada would make
comments and push her around.

"At one point, I saw a little altercation, and Nada was just
giving Valeyta a hard time, and I said to myself, ‘Poor
Valeyta.’

"I turned around for one second, and when I turned around again,
Nada’s face was bloody. What happened, I don’t know, but there was
blood pouring from Nada’s face."

And the end result?

"We had no more problems with Valeyta and Nada playing
basketball after that," Venegas says.

Of course, Kawar and Althouse will tell you there never was a
problem, that the bloodied lip was a mere casualty of an aggressive
basketball game.

"I had the ball, I went up for a shot, she slammed me back down,
so I went up a little harder and I caught her in the mouth with the
ball," Althouse says. "It’s that simple."

For sure, there have been no problems between the two on the
infield of the track, where Althouse has dominated the scene since
Kawar’s arrival in Westwood three years ago.

With a personal-best throw of 61-feet, 10 1/4-inches, Althouse
is the third-ranked shot putter in the United States, including
non-collegians. Kawar, whose personal best 55-0 3/4 earned her a
third-place finish at this year’s indoor nationals, is respectful
of that stature and, in the shot put ring, has not given Althouse
the ribbing that she once did on the basketball court. Other
competitors, however, have not been so fortunate.

"She gets in the face of the other athletes, she lets them know
she’s there," Venegas says. "She may not say anything that we would
call unsportsmanlike, but I’ve seen her take the shot and slam it
real close to where another athlete is standing, just to let them
know, ‘Hey, I’m here ­ this is my turf.’"

Admittedly, Kawar has a short fuse, and her temper has evidenced
itself both in and out of the ring. Mostly, it is channeled into
the fiery competitive spirit that has made her one of the premier
double-event performers in the college ranks. In addition to the
shot put, Kawar competes in the discus, and is currently ranked
fourth in the NCAA in that event with a season best throw of
183-11.

"As far as throwing, that attitude has been beneficial because
when I get in there and throw, and then somebody comes and throws
further, I see that as an insult," Kawar says. "’Whatever, you’re a
great thrower and all, but this is my home, my throwing ring, my
speciality, and I don’t want you to beat me.’"

Says Venegas, who has been at UCLA 15 years and is, without
doubt, the most successful collegiate throwing coach ever: "I’ve
never, in all my years of coaching, seen a more aggressive thrower,
male or female. She is insane when she gets to some meets. The kids
call her the terminator, the terrorist, anything you want. They go
nuts watching her compete because she can get really fired up."

Such behavior isn’t quite what would be expected of a biology
major with a 3.9 GPA ­ highest among all student athletes at
UCLA. Then again, Kawar, who hates doctors and wants to be a
neurosurgeon, is full of contradictions.

"That’s exactly why I want to be a doctor," she says. "I don’t
want to treat people the way that doctors treat them now.

"I like medicine, I just don’t like the idea of somebody
medicating on me."

In any case, Kawar’s demeanor has, for the most part, been an
advantage. A dual citizen of the United States and Jordan, she will
probably represent Jordan in this summer’s Olympic Games. And even
if she isn’t the class of the world this year, Venegas is confident
that she could be in 2000.

"She’s young and inexperienced, and sometimes it works against
her," he said. "Right now, she’s learning how to control her
emotional states, but I think she’s going to be a phenomenal
thrower in the next couple of years."

Photo by PATRICK LAM/ Daily Bruin. Photo illustration by GARETH
SMITH/ Daily Bruin.

Nada Kawar is the Bruins’ second-best competitor in both the
discus and shot put.