Out of nowhere, Red Knights’ ‘Tofu’ muscles her way to Stephan gold

By Julie Pelchar Cohen — MikeDragoSports.com senior correspondent

Only a few years ago Oluwatofunmi Odeyemi knew very little about the shot put.

“I had heard about it because of the Olympics,” the Reading High sophomore said. “But I had never watched it.”

So when Odeyemi joined the track team in eighth grade, she gravitated toward the running events.

“But I wasn’t good at it,” she said. “I don’t have the stamina.”

Odeymi has since discovered her niche in the discipline she knew so little about.

She heaved the shot put a personal-best 33 feet, 1 ½ inches for a victory during Saturday’s Leonard Stephan Invitational at West Lawn. The win was her first in a big meet and put a Red Knights thrower in the winner’s circle for the first time in many years.

Odeyemi, whose teammates have shortened her Nigerian first name to “Tofunmi,” “Tofu” or “T”, traded her running spikes for a dusty shot put in that first year of track.

 “I knew I was strong,” she said. “I needed to find something that required my muscles.”

Odeyemi was a decent beginner in the shot but remained a work in progress through last year’s freshman season.

She didn’t even mark at last year’s Stephan Meet, meaning her three attempts fell short of the minimum distance required to measure. Her best throw last spring was a 28-0, when she finished 19th at the county-championship Firing Meet.

“This has been a really good jump for me,” she said. 

As she continues to improve, Odeyemi will likely contend for county gold in several weeks. 

“This year she has really bought into it,” said Reading High throws coach Greg Zelinske. “She’s bought into throwing. She’s bought into working hard in the weight room. She’s busting out big throws every meet. She’s hitting PR’s every single meet. It’s been awesome to watch.”

Odeyemi received a recent boost when former Red Knights thrower Danielle Laws started working with the team. Laws graduated with shot put and discus county titles and a District 3 Class 3A title in the shot.

Odeyemi is eyeing her school record of 39-10 1/4.

While she continues to hone her craft, Odeyemi enjoys other events.

Interestingly, she also competes in the  high jump. She plans to start long jumping soon and wants to try the pole vault next spring. 

She’s a curious study in the field of track even if Zelinske sees a correlation between Odeyemi’s shot put and high jumping.

“We’re building her legs to explode more so when she pushes off those legs for jumps,” Zelinske said, “it’s the same idea as for shot put when she uses her legs to push up.

“In the weight room, she’s effortless. She’s not even using all the strength she has. I  don’t think she realizes how strong she is becoming.”

While Odeyemi has plenty of time to enjoy the chase as well as her other events, she’ll continue to relish each time her shot splashes the cinder a bit farther than her last best attempt.

“I like the excitement when I see that I’ve thrown farther,” she said. “It just puts a big smile on my face.”