North Carolina State University Athletics
Get To Know Mitchell Pope
2/1/2005 12:00:00 AM | Track
Feb. 1, 2005
Mitchell Pope, a sophomore thrower on the NC State men's track & field team, sat down to catch up with GoPack.com.
GoPack: What did you do over break?
Mitchell: Went home (Hickory, N.C.) and relaxed.
GoPack: What are your goals this season?
Mitchell: My main goal is to get the school record in the shot (indoor school record is 62-11, set by Bob Medlin in 1977 and the outdoor school record is 65-4.5, also set by Bob Medlin in 1977)
GoPack: How close are you?
Mitchell: I threw 61-4 last year (outdoors).
GoPack: How long have you been throwing?
Mitchell: Since my sophomore year in high school.
GoPack: What else did you do in high school?
Mitchell: Basketball.
GoPack: Did you play center?
Mitchell: Yeah, I was a lot smaller then. I started track and gained A LOT of weight.
 Mitchell Pope hopes to break the school record in the shot put and he also hopes to make his '94 Toyota Supra look like the one used in the movie The Fast And The Furious (above)  |
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GoPack: Are you just doing shot put and weight throw this year?
Mitchell: I'll do hammer throw and discus during outdoors and I might even throw the javelin too.
GoPack: Have you ever done any other events? Pole vault or something really different than throws?
Mitchell: I was a high jumper when I first went out for track. I was our school's best, which isn't saying much. I could only clear about 5-8. I broke too many poles from landing on them. They said `why don't you go try thowing.' That's where I've been since.
GoPack: Do the throwers all stick together? Are you a pretty tight knit group?
Mitchell: Yeah, all the field event guys know each other pretty well and we hang out a lot.
GoPack: Do you guys have funny nicknames for each other?
Mitchell: Not really.
GoPack: What's the funniest nickname on the team?
Mitchell: The whole team? I don't know. People call me `big show.'
GoPack: How long have you had your eyebrow pierced?
Mitchell: About a week.
GoPack: Really? You've got earings too. Any tattoos?
Mitchell: Two.
GoPack: What of?
Mitchell: Superman symbol here (points to arm), my initials on my leg in Chinese.
GoPack: As far as you know.
Mitchell: That's true, I think they spell my initials.
GoPack: Were you born and raised in Hickory?
Mitchell: Yes.
GoPack: Any brothers or sisters?
Mitchell: Only child.
GoPack: Favorite movie?
Mitchell: Too many to pick.
GoPack: What kind of music do you listen to before meets?
Mitchell: Usually some kind of heavy metal.
GoPack: Any other superstitions or rituals before every meet?
Mitchell: Ibuprofen and Pepto Bismal.
GoPack: (curious look, but before question is even asked...)
Mitchell: Ibuprofen for my hand and Pepto Bismal for my stomach because I get so nervous.
GoPack: What's wrong with your hand?
Mitchell: We're not really sure. It just hurts. It's not broken or anything. There's just a lot of pressure on it from the pushing and pulling of throwing.
GoPack: What's on your other hand?
Mitchell: That's just grease (laughing). I've been working on my car.
GoPack: What hobbies do you have when you're not studying, in class or at practice?
Mitchell: Cars.
GoPack: You like fixing them up or...
Mitchell: (cuts me off right there) Yeah.
GoPack: What kind of car do you have?
Mitchell: A '94 Toyota Supra.
GoPack: If I wrote you a blank check would you restore that car or would you get a different car?
Mitchell: I would do more work to the car that I have. It has always been my dream car and I finally got it, so I'd probably pour all the money into it.
GoPack: A Supra?
Mitchell: Have you ever seen The Fast and the Furious?
GoPack: Yeah, sure. It's Point Break except with race cars instead of surfboards, Vin Diesel instead of Patrick Swayze and Paul Walker instead of Keanu Reeves.
Mitchell: Well, it's the orange car.
GoPack: Have you ever raced your car?
Mitchell: (smiling) I like to drive fast.
GoPack: Who has been the greatest influence in your life?
Mitchell: Randy Barnes, the world (shot put) record holder.
GoPack: Have you ever met him?
Mitchell: No. I always have wanted to though. I've sent him a couple emails, but never heard anything back. Nobody seems to know where he is right now actually.
GoPack: When you were a little kid what did you want to be when you grew up?
Mitchell: Some kind of professional athlete. It was never football, it was always baseball or basketball.
GoPack: But it was never an Olympic shot putter?
Mitchell: No (laughing). I went out for track in high school just so I wouldn't have to get a job.
GoPack: What classes are you taking this semester?
Mitchell: I'm going into technology education so I've got metal working, computer application and stuff like that.
GoPack: What is your favorite class that you've taken here at NC State?
Mitchell: Woodworking last semester, but I think I'm going to like this metalworking class that I'm taking now.
GoPack: Did you make anything worth keeping in your woodworking class?
Mitchell: I built a really big cabinet.
GoPack: If a movie was made about you, which actor would you want to play the part of you?
Mitchell: (long pause) I'd say the Rock. (chuckles)
GoPack: You passed a couple of schools along I-40 on the way here from Hickory. What made you choose NC State?
Mitchell: I was going to go to Carolina. That was always my favorite school when I was growing up, but when I went on a visit there I really didn't feel like I would fit in there. State just seemed to match my high school better and I just felt more comfortable here. Plus Coach was laid back.
GoPack: Finish this sentence - Nobody knows how much I like to __:
Mitchell: Eat. (laughs)
GoPack: What is your most embarrassing moment on the track?
Mitchell: Anytime I fall down.
GoPack: What was your most embarrassing fall?
Mitchell: I was teaching a bunch of kids how to throw back at my high school and when I came around I tripped over the toe board. That was kind of embarrassing.
GoPack: If you could switch places with someone for a day, who would it be?
Mitchell: Right now it would be Garrett Johnson. He's a thrower at Florida State. He just threw 66. He's my age too and it's killin' me right now.
GoPack: If you had to give up all of your possessions but one, what would you keep?
Mitchell: My car.
GoPack: Which teammate is most likely to become a head coach someday?
Mitchell: I would say Kelly Smoke.
GoPack: Who is the funniest person on the team?
Mitchell: Chris (Crawford) probably is because he is so wild in the circle sometimes. He's crazy fast and very explosive, but he really doesn't know how to harness it. At any given time he could bust the concrete.
GoPack: If you could be on a reality TV show, which one would you pick?
Mitchell: Fear Factor.
GoPack: You think you could eat the stuff that they eat on that show?
Mitchell: I would just close my eyes and put it down.
GoPack: If you could be on any magazine cover, which one would you pick?
Mitchell: That's a tough one. It would either be one of the car magazines that would have my car on there or anything I got on because of track.
GoPack: Is there an event in history that you would have liked to have witnessed?
Mitchell: (long pause) I would have liked to have seen the world record thrown.
GoPack: Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Mitchell: Hopefully wealthy. Haven't figured out how I'm going to get there quite yet, but I'm shooting for that. I hope to make the Olympics the next time around too.
GoPack: Sounds good Mitchell. Thanks for stopping by. Great job. Good luck this spring.
