Wood’s Grove reflects on record, sets sights on postseason meets

By ROBERT NIEDZWIECKI | The Winchester Star

WINCHESTER — When Chance Grove found out what his official mark in the discus throw was during a meet on May 9 at James Wood, the Colonels junior said “my legs nearly gave out, and I just kind of dropped.”

That can happen when everything you’ve worked for and dreamed about becomes reality.

Grove broke the oldest record in James Wood school history on May 9 with his toss of 162 feet, 8 inches. The mark formerly belonged to Chuck Marks, who set the record of 161-1 in 1966 before moving on to play running back for the Virginia Military Institute football team.

Grove never placed higher than 10th in the discus in any of his postseason meets his first two years, but he’s established himself as one of the best throwers in the state as a junior.

“I’ve had that record on my mind since freshman year,” said the 6-foot-5, 245-pound Grove on Wednesday, standing just outside the discus area where he made history one week earlier. “I hit 120 my freshman year, and it’s been on my mind ever since.”

If Grove keeps performing the way he has, he’ll have a few postseason medals to go along with having his name on the wall of the Kelican Stadium field house as a school record-holder.

Grove will get his first crack on Saturday at the Class 4 Northwestern District meet, which starts at 1 p.m. at James Wood. The meet was originally scheduled for today at Skyline High School but was pushed back because of the forecast of rain.

The rise of Grove — who started throwing in seventh grade because he wanted to try another sport that might keep him strong for football — has been an impressive one.

James Wood’s starting right offensive tackle said he got serious about throwing as a freshman thanks to his interaction with former throwing coach Jamie Carr, who was in the last of his 19 years at James Wood in 2016.

“He was able to teach me the form and everything I needed to know to get better,” said Grove of Carr, whose pupils that year included current George Mason University throwers Grace Greene (a state champion that year) and Hannah Cavanagh.

While Grove’s top throw as a freshman was 120, he only took 16th out of 17 competitors with a mark of 85-2 at the Conference 21 West meet.

As a sophomore, Grove grew an inch to 6-4 and added 35 pounds to get to 230. With former head coach Matt Stegmaier coaching the throwers, Grove said he improved his top discus mark to 134-6.

But at the Conference 21 West meet, Grove said he scratched on all his throws and placed “dead last.” He took 10th at the 4A West Region meet with a 132-2, but that wasn’t good enough to score any points for his team or qualify for states.

Grove said he had good technique last year, but he focused on putting more power and speed into his throws this year.

“Last year my spin was slow, so it took off a lot of power from it,” Grove said. “It also helps that I got bigger and stronger in the offseason.”

Grove’s new throwing coach is Larry Layman, who graduated from James Wood not long before Marks, in 1965. Layman coached at Frederick County Middle School for five years prior to this year.

Layman said Grove gives his all into James Wood’s strength and conditioning exercises, whether he’s lifting weights, doing bear crawls up the hill, or throwing medicine balls around.

In short, Grove has been easy to coach.

“Before I got here, he had technique, but he still studies, and studies,” Layman said. “I just point out a few things occasionally — you’re not keeping your head high enough like you should, things like that. But he’s pretty much self-made.

“I didn’t know Chuck that well, but I was around him enough to know that a similarity they share is their dedication to every sport they’re in. [Grove’s] a competitor, and that’s what makes him as good as he is.”

Early in the season, Grove said he showed steady progress before finally breaking 150 feet for the first time at the Wolverine Classic at Woodgrove on April 20 in the Colonels’ third meet (he took third with a 152-11), which gave him more confidence.

In the more than two weeks after that meet, Grove said he was bothered by his inability to replicate his performance at Woodgrove. The May 9 meet at James Wood — which featured all of the Class 4 Northwestern District teams except Liberty and Kettle Run — didn’t start off so hot either.

“All of my throws before the 162 were like mid 130s,” Grove said. “I was just really frustrated, so I went into the circle with my last throw and just put everything I had into it.”

James Wood has signs that mark the distance for the throws, so Grove grew excited when he saw that his discus landed past the 160 mark. But hearing the actual distance announced was a different feeling entirely.

Grove said he initially felt “disbelief” when he heard the 162-8, but deep down inside he knew he could do it one day, which is why he made it a goal in the first place. Grove said the support he’s received over the years from his family played a big role in that confidence.

“They always tell me, ‘You can get it, you can get it,’” said Grove of his parents, Susan and Clay Grove, and 14-year-old sister Aubrey. “They say, ‘You just have to work for it. You know what you’ve got to do.’

“It’s a really cool feeling, knowing that I’m a small part in this school’s history.”

“He’s gone beyond our expectations, mine and his,” Layman said. “We were hoping this year he would get close to 160. I was just thrilled he was able to achieve the record.”

Grove said he didn’t want that throw to be a “fluke,” and he showed it wasn’t by recording two throws of more than 150 feet at the Last Chance Invitational at Millbrook on May 11. Grove took first with a 156-9.

Grove has not only qualified for the Class 4 state meet this year, but his 162-8 would have been good enough for second at last year’s state meet.

With the support of not only his family but also from some of the other throwers in the area — people like teammate Dominic Revetta, Sherando’s Isaiah Allen and Handley’s Quinten Newman and Ian Ganey — Grove might just get to the very top.

“We all push each other and we’re all close together at meets, helping each other out,” Grove said. “It’s kind of cool to have those guys there try and motivate you, and helping you get better.”

— Contact Robert Niedzwiecki at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Follow on Twitter @WinStarSports1