High School Hammer Shows Continued Growth in 2015

The 2015 season has finished up with Adam Kelly (Barrington, RI) and Haley Showalter (Valor Christian, Highlands Ranch, CO) finishing the season at the top. The year was once again a showcase of how much the sport has grown at the high school level. Overall the number of throwers qualifying for Bob Gourley’s national list increased to 254 throwers. This means that throughout the season 132 boys broke 150 feet and 122 girls threw over 120 feet. This represents a 6.3% increase compared to 2014.

→ Related Content: Bob Gourley’s season ending national performance lists contain the complete list of all 254 athletes.

It was also not just the quantity, but the quality that improved. There was a record setting five boys over 230 feet in 2015 and once again twenty throwers over the 200 foot barrier. The boy’s hammer throw took a big jump in 2013 and the results this year show that this was not a fluke, but started to set a new standard for excellence. After having an unprecedented number of throwers over 180 feet last year the number of girls over the barrier declined in 2015 but still held strong in comparison to historic trends. Also for the first time 10 girls broke 170 feet. Below is an overview of the five-year trends over certain barriers.