His hometown is none other than, well, Hometown -- in Illinois.

Pound-for-pound, your money would be safe to bet that he's the strongest athlete on the Ashford University campus. He benches a clean 405 pounds, power cleans at 345 and squats 455 -- wow.

Ashford University freshman thrower Spencer Touchie (pronounced too-SHAY) has made quite the impression in the early going.

Touchie burst on the scene just two events into his collegiate career for the indoor winter season, automatically qualifying for the NAIA Indoor National Championships in shot put. He provisionally qualified with a school record-breaking attempt of 15.39m in his Ashford debut at the Iowa State Holiday Classic, but punched his ticket for good at the Carthage Opener last weekend with a hurl of 15.59m.

Touchie sustains a recent string of success from Ashford athletics on the national level, joining NAIA qualifiers Andrew Drinkall (men's cross country), Jordan Davis (women's golf), Franklin Barnes (track) and the Saints' men's soccer squad in recent memory.

"The last two meets have been pretty exciting," Touchie said. "Coming in for my first meet, I wasn't expecting to hit 50 feet or anywhere close to it. I'd like to get rid of my woes from the high school state meet and continue to perform well in college because this is huge for me."

Working exclusively with assistant coach and throws specialist Sheena James, a standout herself as a Big Ten Conference titlewinner at Purdue University, Touchie has flourished under her watchful eye.

But with Spencer growing up as a University of Michigan fan, there can be tense moments when the Wolverines and James' Boilermakers clash.

"Things can get pretty quiet between us when Michigan and Purdue play, because Michigan always wins," he said with a laugh. "But Sheena knows what she's doing. I've never really had a shot put coach. She knows everything wrong with my form and knows why I'm throwing it a certain way."

"I'm very impressed and excited for Spencer's future," James commented. "We still have some kinks to work out, but the power and explosiveness is there for us to fall back on if all else fails. I'm looking forward to seeing great things come of Spencer and the Ashford entire throws group."

At Oak Lawn Community High School, Touchie was a standout in football, member of a conference championship bowling team and a track and field star. Even the wrestling coach beckoned for his services at the heavyweight class.

Touchie had his promising career on the gridiron derailed by a fractured hip during offseason workouts in his junior year. He had been receiving serious letters of interest from Div. III Augustana College and is almost convinced without the injury, he could be an anchor alongside an offensive line to this day.

"It crosses my mind every day I hear about high school football," he reflected. "I do wonder if I could have played now, but I'm happy with how things have turned out. But I love to lift. It's my football mentality coming back to me, lift like crazy, lift hard. That's how I carry myself in track practice."

Touchie crushed his preseason ambitions of provisionally qualifying for the national indoor meet and throwing at least 50 feet. He comes into every event with the mentality to do better than his last one. His pre-match routine includes listening to classical music, prayer and drawing inspiration from the Bible, particularly from the book of Psalms.

Touchie's ultimate aspiration is to be an Olympic shot putter one day and expressed commitment to put in as much work necessary to meet his goals. But his sights are set for now on eclipsing 16 meters by the end of his freshman year.

"I'd like to go up about five feet every year on my throws," he said. "That would put me at 70 feet as a senior. I've already broken the goals that I had set for the year, but throwing 16 meters might fall pretty quickly too."

Touchie is grateful for the abundance of family support he has in his corner with father, Spencer, and mother, Barbara. His father made a near seven-hour trek to Ames to see Spencer in his Ashford debut and support his son.

His mother has also certainly has been a bit of a good luck charm or a sign of good omen.

"I actually haven't lost a meet yet when my mom is in attendance," he said. "She came to the Carthage meet with me, but in general, to have my family behind me is huge. I can't wait until the season continues to keep rolling. I'd like to bring more teammates to the national meet with me."