Armenakyan commits to UMass

By ALEX SPONSELLER
Posted 12/13/18

Toll Gate's Voski Armenakyan has cemented her place as one of the top throwers to ever come out of the state of Rhode Island, and currently sits as the 7th-best hammer thrower in the nation. Armenakyan's journey began during her freshman season...

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Armenakyan commits to UMass

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Toll Gate’s Voski Armenakyan has cemented her place as one of the top throwers to ever come out of the state of Rhode Island, and currently sits as the 7th-best hammer thrower in the nation.

Armenakyan’s journey began during her freshman season. Although she was originally a soccer player, she decided to give track and field a try entering high school, specifically as a hurdler.

After spending time with her sister Ani, who went on to throw for the Division I University of Rhode Island, as well as Toll Gate coach Jared DeAlmo, she decided to give throwing a try and the rest was history.

Armenakyan immediately fell in love with the sport, and worked tirelessly to improve her scores. Between working out on the track, off the track, and even watching film of other top-level throwers, she quickly rose to the top of the standings and became one of the premier throwers in the state throughout her first three years as a Titan.

She also had to battle through adversity during her sophomore season. After suffering a back injury from being hit by a car, her campaign, and state title aspirations, were put on hold. However, she worked hard in rehab and was able to pull herself back into competition the following year, and didn’t miss a beat.

Her hard work, dedication and resilience led her to receiving a scholarship offer to the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where she will be competing for the Division I Minutewomen.

“It feels real now, I can’t wait to see what the rest of this season holds and am eager to keep working hard and staying dedicated for my next four years at UMass Amherst. They provide so much support athletically and academically so I just can’t wait to get moving,” said Armenakyan.

Armenakyan visited a handful of schools, including the University of Vermont, High Point University, and Bryant, but she felt that UMass’ offer was simply too good to pass up.

“It was a very difficult choice … I loved every school and every coach was amazing and offered me great opportunities. UMass stood out because of the support and the team atmosphere there, having the extra hand. It’s doing to be different going from a small state like Rhode Island to moving forward in life. The support academically, the team, it’s a beautiful campus,” said Armenakyan.

The signing makes it three straight years that a Titan has committed to throwing at the DI level. Armenakyan believes that DeAlmo has created a top-notch program.

“I have Coach to thank for that, he’s prepared me for things that I could never describe. He’s prepared me mentally and physically for this sport, he’s really put in the time. It’s a very difficult sport to get in to, it’s really demanding and he took the time to show me how to do certain things while also taking a step back to give me time to adjust to the sport,” said Armenakyan. “I was initially a soccer player, this isn’t what I started out doing.”

Competing at Division III or II is always a challenge, but competing at Division I is even tougher. Armenakyan looks forward to the challenge, and feels that preparation will be the key to success.

“Competing at the collegiate level will be difficult. Mentally being able to handle the competition (will be the biggest challenge). At that point, you can only prepare as much as you can and that’s all that you can do, once you get there you just have to be able to handle whatever is thrown at you,” said Armenakyan, who will also miss the Toll Gate community despite being excited to take the next step.

“It’s such a tight-knit community. I love it so much, having such an amazing team, having amazing coaches, I’m close with all of them and am going to miss them the most.”

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