Anderson to throw for Cal State Fullerton

This year Ramona High School senior Connor Anderson is throwing the shot put and discus for the Bulldogs’ track and field team. Next year he will be throwing for the Cal State Fullerton team.

Anderson signed a letter of intent with Cal State Fullerton that includes a full athletic scholarship.

“I’m just excited,” he said. “I get to do what I love at the next level competing against Division I athletes.”

He was also considering Cal State University San Marcos and decided to sign with Cal State Fullerton due to the level of competition.

“I wanted to compete in a Division I conference,” Anderson said.

“I’m just really proud of him,” said track and field head coach Sherri Edwards. “I think Cal State Fullerton’s lucky to have him. He’ll be a great thrower for them.”

High school track and field has two throwing events: the shot put and the discus. College track and field has four throwing competitions with the hammer and javelin throws joining the shot put and discus hurling. Anderson is expected to throw the discus and hammer for the Titans.

“It’s going to be fun,” he said. “I’m actually more excited to hammer because I’ve never done it before.”

Anderson is a lifelong Ramona resident. His father, Eddie, played football at Ramona High School. His mother, Marilyn, attended Torrey Pines High School.

Anderson followed his Barnett Elementary School years with attendance at Olive Peirce Middle School. When he was in seventh grade at Olive Peirce, track and field coach J.J. Sclar encouraged him to take up the shot put.

Anderson is a three-sport athlete at Ramona High School. He played football for the Bulldogs in all four of his fall seasons and made the varsity as a junior. He was a defensive end and tight end during his junior season, and as a senior he was primarily a center and with some defensive end activity. The Valley League coaches gave Anderson honorable mention all-league honors for his senior season, and Anderson’s football career concluded with the Mexican-American National Game and Alex Spanos All-Star Classic senior all-star games.

The football highlight of Anderson’s career was the Oct. 23 homecoming game against Poway. The 14-10 victory, which was Ramona’s only league win during Anderson’s senior season, was sealed after the Titans had a first down 1 yard away from the end zone late in the fourth quarter. Ramona’s defense kept the Titans out of the end zone, including Austin Goodwin’s fourth-down sack, and Ramona quarterback Marco Cobian then kneeled to run out the clock.

“That was a close one, the most fun game I’ve ever played in,” Anderson said.

Anderson was on Ramona’s freshman basketball team as a ninth-grader before concluding his scholastic hoops activity on the junior varsity team as a sophomore.

He made Ramona’s track and field varsity squad as a freshman. His first shot put distance was 35 feet 9 1/2 inches, and his first scored discus throw landed 89-2 past the throwing circle. His best discus throw as a freshman was 120-3 1/2 inches and his top 2013 shot put distance was 41-9.

As a sophomore Anderson qualified for the CIF San Diego Section finals in the discus and the CIF preliminaries in the shot put. His best discus throw of 2014 was 143-5, and he threw a shot put 42-11 1/2 inches that year.

After his sophomore year Anderson began traveling to Los Angeles to work with throwing trainer Erik Johnson.

“It definitely helped,” he said. “I’ve improved.”

The 2015 Valley League finals included Anderson’s throws of 170-10 in the discus and 50-9 in the shot put to qualify him for the CIF section meet in both events while setting personal records in both. The CIF preliminaries results qualified Anderson for the section finals in both events, and a second-place discus throw earned Anderson entry into the state meet, where he finished 17th.

The state meet had been Anderson’s track and field highlight until March 10 of this year, when the Bulldogs hosted Mission Hills in a non-league dual meet. Anderson’s discus throw of 185-11 broke the school record of 179-10 set by Logan Peterson in 2010. Anderson noted that his goal as a freshman was to break the school record.

“I finally accomplished my goal,” he said.

“He’s worked a lot in the off-season,” Edwards said.

Anderson is leaning toward a psychology or criminal justice major and hopes for a career in law enforcement.