Hammering out a bond

Hingham father and son enjoy national success, and throwing together

Late on summer afternoons, they take turns throwing.

At the end of a long day, two pillar-like figures, a father and his son, head over to the field at Hingham High to throw the hammer.

The twin towers are Kyle Morse, a junior at Radford University in Virginia, and his father, Tim.

The elder Morse will watch as his son wraps three taped fingers around the handle, pulls it in front of him, turns his massive frame three times, and throws. It's a release for both father and son.

The younger Morse, who stands 6 feet 3 and weighs 250 pounds, comes home to Hingham in the off-season. He works with his father's landscaping crew during the day, but when the work is done, the two cool down by flinging hammers across the field.

"It's a relaxed atmosphere," said Kyle. "Just something fun to do over the summer. I just go out there and enjoy myself. We'll usually get a nice big dinner afterward."

His dad laughs.

"Believe me, he likes to eat. You gotta stay out of the way when he's eating barbecue."

For a moment, the 51-year-old Morse ponders how fast his son has grown.

In just his third season competing, the younger Morse is one of the best hammer throwers in the country. Last Friday, he earned All-America status with a throw of 207 feet 4 inches at the NCAA Division 1 Track and Field Championships in Des Moines. His personal best of 217 feet 4 inches won the East regionals. He missed qualifying for this summer's Olympics in Beijing, but he now has his radar locked on London for the 2012 Games.

And he's just getting started.

"He's going up against guys that have been throwing at least 10 years," said Mark Sieminski, a Scituate-based strength coach who taught Morse in high school. "We haven't seen the best of him yet."

Morse's path began when his father found a javelin at a yard sale. They'd hurl the spike across the field.

"You wouldn't have looked at me and said, 'This kid's got definite potential,' " Kyle admits, his first throws traveling 100 feet.

He flirted with football at Hingham High, but he soon found the discus. He learned weightlifting basics with Sieminski, and his throws rapidly improved. He placed third in the state as a junior, then won the state meet and earned Globe All-Scholastic honors as a senior.

He committed to Radford, a small Division 1 school. As a graduation gift, his parents sent him to a camp run by Harold Connolly, who held the world hammer record for 10 years and won the gold in the 1956 Games, the last American to do so. Connolly, 77, was born in Somerville and has a statue dedicated to him in Brighton, but he now lives in Radford, Va. There was an instant connection.

Morse blossomed. "It was like a new beginning for me," said Morse. "I was taught the proper way to throw right off the bat. I didn't learn any bad habits."

In his first meet as a freshman, he threw 163 feet, and kept making them longer and longer. He worked with Connolly and highly sought-after throwing coach Larry Judge. A year ago, he met Judge protégé Erin Gilreath, who formerly held the American women's record and competed in Athens in 2004. A romance developed that endures today.

Hammer throwing became Morse's world. And when he came home from his first year at Radford, he brought his father into that world. "He told me, this is even more fun than the disc," said Tim. "I picked one up and he showed me how to throw it. He's been showing me how to throw it for two years."

Like his own father, Tim Morse started a sport late and progressed rapidly. Richard Morse picked up tennis at age 36 and yesterday was elected into the US Tennis Association's New England Hall of Fame. Tim Morse was a collegiate pole vaulter at Northeastern, but picked up the hammer quickly under his son's tutelage. In his first meet, at the US Track and Field Nationals, he placed eighth in the master's division. Two weeks ago, he threw 159 feet at a local meet at Harvard, which places him third nationwide in the 50-54 age group. He throws at local events, and as they did last year, both he and Kyle will compete in the Bay State Games on July 13.

They relish the chance to throw together again.

Last Wednesday night in Hingham, Tim Morse threw the hammer into the fading summer sky. His son was in Indianapolis, training with Judge and Gilreath. As he improves, Kyle Morse will travel more and more, to national and international competitions. No matter where they are, though, Tim and Kyle Morse will always have the bond they forged through those summer throws.

"We did a lot of things together," said Tim. "But the throwing is something I can do with him . . . something you can do for the rest of your life. I started at 50, and I started because of him."

"It gets to the point where everything is hustle and bustle and everybody's got to do this and that. But we have to take time to do something with our kids."

Matt Porter can be reached at heymattporter@gmail.com.