Heading to Harvard: Meet The Charlotte Observer’s girls’ prep scholar-athlete of the year
Tyler Glover saw a familiar face when she showed up to her middle school track and field tryouts.
She initially had intentions to be a sprinter, especially as her mother had run in high school. But upon seeing Tyler Erb, her math teacher who also coached throwers at Community House, she decided to try her hand at shot put and discus.
Glover has become the area’s best shot putter at Ardrey Kell and is now signed to throw at Harvard University.
The owner of multiple school records and six 4A state championships, Glover is The Charlotte Observer’s girls’ scholar-athlete of the year.
“I’m not 100 percent sure I would have even started to throw if he wasn’t my math teacher and track coach,” Glover said. “Being in Charlotte where there are a lot of girls doing really well with throwing, iron sharpens iron. Coming from middle school, I always won meets in shot put, but when I got to high school, I was getting blown out of the water by these girls in their senior, junior year.
“I was seeing girls spin and do the glide, and those were things I never really thought about doing. It was a good shock to have a few girls be so much better than me — and push me to learn other techniques.”
Born outside Michigan and competitive from a young age
Once Glover tore her ACL in eighth grade, she was all-in on throwing — as that would help her return to action even sooner.
Glover, who’s done Taekwando since she was 3, has been involved with a variety of sports from a young age — even competitive sparring. She’d felt she always wanted to be a sprinter, though, and ran in addition to throwing until her ACL tear.
Her family has roots in Detroit and has always had a ton of passion for sports. Her father is a University of Michigan alum — and her mother attended Michigan State. They have a “house divided” flag with both schools’ logos outside their house.
She was born and initially raised in Indiana, while many of her relatives lived in Michigan. Glover’s family moved to North Carolina when she was 7.
Glover, named the area’s best shot putter by the Observer, made the best throw in the state (49-1.25) at the Clash of the Carolinas at Cuthbertson in March before going on to win the 4A state title.
From Charlotte to Harvard
Glover, who owns Ardrey Kell’s school records for both shot put and discus, graduated in the top 5 percent of her class with a 4.6 GPA.
She realized her potential after breaking a 40 in shot put at the end of her sophomore year. Athletes usually don’t get recruited until the summer following their sophomore year, and that score allowed Glover to start comparing herself to college throwers.
Glover was initially considering Princeton, UNC, Duke, Penn, Harvard and Wake Forest. Academics were her top priority, and she quickly grew excited by how competitive some of these schools were athletically on top of their academic reputations.
Fletcher Brooks, a coach who had recruited her when he was at Penn, took a new job at Harvard last year. Glover sent Brooks a text message wishing him luck with his new job.
A known relationship builder, Brooks kept in contact with Glover. Not long into his new role, he invited her to visit Harvard.
And it was the perfect fit.
“I was really going off how I felt around the people, how I felt on campus,” Glover said. “There’s something about Harvard that made me really excited to go there and have the opportunity to be on the team. I wouldn’t say any one specific program or feature about Harvard.
“It was a combination of the people, the team, the coach. Everything.”
This story was originally published June 21, 2024 at 5:30 AM.
