Martin Bingisser

Youth hammer record books rewritten 2019

/by

The past year was a historic one for high school hammer throwing. A dozen state records fell indoors and outdoors, and the all-time rankings were again rewritten. Below is a summary of the biggest records and all-time performance in 2019.

» Related Content: HSHammer has been taking a look back at the 2019 season. Check out the final rankings, all-Americans, state rankings, and growth trends.

State Records

State records fell all over the place in 2019. In the hammer throw, 12 state records went down

  • Boys (6): Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Washington
  • Girls (6): Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Rhode Island.

Notably, after several close calls in recent years, the Rhode Island finally went down with Annika Kelly (Barrington, RI) adding 17 inches to the 18 year old record. On the boy’s side Trey Knight (Ridgefield, WA) also took down one of the country’s top state records by adding 15 feet to the 17 year old Washington state record set by Adam Midles. Knight recently committed to USC, where Midles also went on to throw and become an all-American. Additional, 12 state records in the weight throw also were broken in 2019.

All-Time Lists

There was also substantial movement on the all-time lists. National leader Trey Knight (Ridgefield, WA) jumped up to third best all time with a new mark of 256’6″, and second best junior all-time. His throw with the collegiate 16-pound hammer also moved him up third all-time with a throw of 213’9″. In the weight throw he moved up even higher, now sitting in second all-time.

Samantha Kunza (Timberland, Wentzville, MO) improved this season to strength her hold on eighth-best on the  all-time girl’s high school list. Annika Kelly (Barrington, RI) also broke into the top 20 all time. Indoors, Monique Hardy (Webster Thomas, Webster, NY) jumped up to sixth all-time, with Cheyenne Figueroa (Classical, Providence, RI) also breaking into the top 20.