Throwers appreciate their time in the spotlight at the NON Shot Put Showcase
Many of the top high-school shot put athletes in the nation competed at Nike Outdoor National’s Shot Put Showcase on Saturday night. Photo by Maggie Troxell
By Israel La Rue
In the midst of the Nike Outdoor Nationals Saturday evening at Hayward Field, a shot put showcase took center stage, grabbing the attention of spectators and allowing the throwers to have fun with all eyes on them. Ben Smith and Madeleine Fey got the crowd to slow clap for their performances.
“Usually at normal track meets, the people watching, the numbers are pretty low,” said Smith, a junior from Wisconsin who finished second in both the shot put and discus earlier in the meet. “So being out here, seeing everyone joining along, cheering for you, it's a different experience. It's a fun experience, and I hope I can be part of it in the future too.”
Since the showcase was a low-stakes competition, the throwers were able to be more loose and show their personalities between throws.
When “Just Wanna Rock” by Lil Uzi Vert played in the stadium, athletes were dancing and vibing out to the song. Before each matchup, the throwers did a handshake or celebration of some kind before throwing. Theo Puterbaugh did LeBron James’ chalk toss celebration, throwing chalk up in the air before entering the circle.
“I never do stuff like clap outs or getting crazy going,” said Fey, a junior from Texas who won the discus championship by 5 meters and finished fifth in the shot put. “I'm kind of shy, but it was very invigorating and just exciting. I hope I can take this and actually have more fun at other meets.”
The shot put showcase was structured as a tournament bracket with the athletes being seeded from one to eight. In every matchup, throwers had only one throw. If someone fouled, they wouldn’t be able to throw again, and if both throwers fouled, the higher seed advanced.
“It's pretty nerve wracking,” Smith said. “Especially when there's so many things that could go wrong. But the environment was just fun, stress free. Try and do as best as you can, but you're just coming out here to show off.”
The lower seeded opponent threw first, giving the higher seed a chance to see what mark they needed to beat to advance.
Smith won the boys shot put showcase as the No. 1 seed, going through the No. 8, No. 4 and No. 3 seeds and throwing better than he did in the boys shot put championship, with throws of 20.83m and 20.08m.
Fey won the girls shot put showcase championship as the fifth seed, beating the No. 4, No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, including the girls shot put champion, Gracelyn Leiseth. Leiseth actually had the longest throw of the girls bracket, 15.51m, but she didn’t make that throw in her matchup with Fey.
After winning their sides of the bracket, Fey and Smith faced off in a boys vs. girls final. The same rules applied – one throw for each.
Fey walked up to the circle first, but she wasn’t alone in her final walkup of the weekend. She had an entourage of the girls throwers hyping her up as she stepped into the circle.
“It felt so cool,” Fey said. “I felt like, I'm not going to curse, but a B-A.”
Smith also had an entourage, but he had a different take on it.
“I think it made me more nervous,” he said. “I mean, these random people hoping that I would throw far. But like I said before, it’s all in fun.”
Fey threw 14.65m to beat Smith, who fouled on his last attempt.
“I don't think I'm the first person to say it, that the throws get kind of neglected during the meet,” said Smith, who appreciated that wasn’t the case on Saturday. “Having us all out here as a showcase right in the spotlight, in the middle of Hayward, getting recognition that we deserve … the stars of the show.”