A native of Hopkins, Minnesota, Andre Hinds ’16 came to Gettysburg with his eyes set on achieving a lofty goal becoming an All-American.
As each year passed, he became closer to making that goal a reality. He placed third (131-10) in the discus at the Centennial Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships as a freshman, runner-up (138-6) as a sophomore, and won the conference title in the event as a junior (156-2) and senior (170-3). He set a school record as a junior in the discus by unleashing 172-6 at the Penn Relays, adding over 16 feet to the Bullets record. The mark is also a conference record, both of which are still records today.
Hinds went to the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships as a junior and placed 16th in the discus (156-0). He earned a nationals spot once again as a senior and clinched All-American status with an eighth-place showing (166-1).
Hinds finished his astonishing career in the Orange and Blue as a two-time conference champion, four-time conference medalist, an all-region honoree, and a two-time national qualifier.
Original Release May 26, 2016
Credit: Braden Snyder, Director of Athletic Communications
WAVERLY, Iowa Senior Andre Hinds (Hopkins, Minn./Blake School) closed out his Gettysburg College track and field career with a bang on Thursday.
With a throw of 166 feet, one inch, Hinds finished eighth in the discus at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships at Wartburg College, capturing All-America honors for the first time in his career.
Hinds is the first Gettysburg men’s track and field All-American since Clay Reynolds ’11 placed sixth in the mile at the NCAA Division III Indoor Championships in 2011. He also become the first-ever discus thrower at Gettysburg to earn All-America status and is just the third Bullet thrower to capture the honor in any event. Nate Grim ’98 was the national runner-up in the shot put at the 1998 outdoor nationals while Pete Jurgs ’79 took fifth in the javelin in 1977.
“Entering the meet I was much more relaxed than last year,” said Hinds. “I didn’t feel like it was too big of a stage, and I was ready to compete. I wanted to put down a solid throw that was representative of the hard work I’ve put in. Overall I was very consistent which was something Coach [Miles] Moore and I had been working on all week and I was able to put down a solid mark that carried me to the podium.”
Making his second-straight appearance at the NCAA Championships, Hinds improved significantly upon his finish from last year’s meet, when he placed 16th.
Competing in the second of two preliminary flights, Hinds uncorked his throw of 166-1 (50.63 meters) on his second attempt. Overall, it was good for seventh among 20 competitors and advanced him into the championship final of nine throwers, with the top-eight achieving All-America recognition.
In the final, Hinds came within six feet of improving upon his mark, launching a throw of 160-2 on his second attempt. But his top throw from prelims held up as his best throw of the day.
Max Leonard of Illinois Wesleyan University won the event in 175-8.
For Hinds, becoming an All-American was the end result a goal four years in the making.
“Starting out at Gettysburg, Coach [Aubrey] Shenk asked us to write down our goals for the season,” said Hinds. “This was an exercise we did to start every season and over the years, I had many different amendments to my list of goals. But the one goal that stayed constant all four years was to graduate as an All-American. Finally reaching that goal is a dream come true.”
Hinds concludes his decorated career at Gettysburg as the school and Centennial Conference record-holder in the discus (172-6).
This story was originally posted on the Gettysburg College Website.