Thirty-five years ago while attending BYU, Anders Arrhenius put the shot over 65 feet and earned All-American honors for that event. At that time BFS founder/CEO Dr. Greg Shepard was the strength coach at BYU. Many years later, Anders' son Nik set a national high school record in the discus at 234 feet 3 inches and later won the NCAA title while representing BYU in that event. Now it's Leif Arrhenius's turn.
Leif Arrhenius, Nik’s brother, was a three-time champion in the shot put and discus at Mountain View High School. This year Leif, representing BYU, had the nation’s top throw in the discus going into the NCAA National Championships with a best throw of 207 feet 1 inch (63.12 meters). At the Nationals he fell short of that distance and finished fourth, but the good news is that as a sophomore he has two more years.
In the weightroom, as a Freshman Leif bench-pressed 495 pounds, a remarkable achievement when you consider that the best bench press for a BYU football player is 540 pounds. His coaches include Olympic champion L.J. Silvester, his father and his brother Nik. Since most top throwers peak in their late 20s and early 30s, we expect to hear more of the Arrhenius name for many more years to come.