Youth hammer records fall in 2018
Over the past few weeks we have covered some of the highlights of the 2018 high school hammer throw season. We have compiled our final rankings, looked at the growth in participation, and this year’s all-Americans. In this article we want to focus on some of the top performances of the year.
State Records
Nine new state records were set in 2018. Girl’s records were broken in Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, and Oregon. Boy’s records were broken in Colorado, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, and Oklahoma.
It is interesting to note that three of the four oldest state records fell in 2018. The Michigan state record was one of the oldest on the books, set by Art Kohler back in 1909. After some close calls in recent years, sophomore Josh DeVries (Portage, MI) finally added more than four feet to the record in June. The records from Colorado and Maine were also nearly 90 years old, set in 1938 and 1929 respectively.
All-Time Lists
There was also substantial movement on the all-time lists. National leader Sandy Moran (Sherwood, OR) not only broke the Oregon state record, but she also moved up to third on the all-time girl’s high school list. Junior Samantha Kunza (Timberland, Wentzville, MO) also cracked into the all-time top 10 in eight position. Other big movers included Mayyi Mahama (Pullman, WA) at 13th all-time and Gianna Rao (Ponaganset, North Scituate, RI) just outside the top 20 at 21st.
On the boy’s all-time list sophomore Trey Knight (Ridgefield, WA) jumped up to 18th all-time and the second best sophomore ever. Joseph Benedetto (John S. Burke Catholic, Goshen, NY) also broke into the top 50.
