Ottawa junior wins shot put

By Andy Samuelson     Apr 17, 2004

Scott McClurg/Journal-World Photo
Runners in the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase navigate the water pit. Eastern Illinois' Jake Stout won the event in a time of 9:22.81 at the Kansas Relays on Friday at Memorial Stadium.

Ottawa High junior Caleb Blakesley was just getting the rust out of his form during shot put preliminaries Friday at the Kansas Relays. Forget going big, he just wanted to get himself ready for later throws.

Turns out, his first throw was the big winner.

Blakesley won the high school shot put competition when his first throw of 60 feet, 31/2 inches stood up through five rounds of some of the Midwest’s top throwers.

Blakesley not only took home gold, but also he shattered his personal-best throw by more than two feet.

“I didn’t think I was going to get 60 on my first one,” Blakesley said. “I was just going to try and open up easy.”

Even during warm-ups, Blakesley dazzled the packed crowd in the shot-put area. His last three practice tosses all were better than 61 feet, including a 63-foot toss on his last warm-up throw.

The momentum carried over into his first throw. His second toss went 56-5, before he fouled three times and recorded a no-mark.

Raytown (Mo.) South senior Jaban Moore took second at 59-111/2. Four of his throws were better than 58 feet.

But only one toss in the entire event surpassed 60 feet — a rarity in high school — and it belonged to Blakesley.

“I still have a lot more to go,” Blakesley said of his potential. “It hit one time, but there’s a lot more there.”

  • Relays repeat: Kansas University freshman shot putter Gavin Ball must like the odds against him.

Last year, as a senior at Cottage Grove (Wis.) High, he drove all night to compete in the Relays. A lack of sleep didn’t stop the five-time Wisconsin state champion from winning the discus competition.

Friday, after not throwing the shot for nearly two weeks because of a hand injury, Ball rode the crowd’s momentum to another victory, winning with a toss of 59 feet, 91/2 inches.

“Last year was just an awesome atmosphere,” Ball said, “this year is surreal almost.”

KU throwing coach Doug Reynolds said Ball definitely fed off the crowd.

“He is a competitive machine,” Reynolds said. “The more the odds are stacked against him, the better he’s going to throw.

“It was a great environment for him today, and he got a lot of energy from the crowd. You know he’s a little bit of a showboat out there.”

Glenn Cunningham, Bill Easton, Billy Mills, Al Oerter, Jim Ryun, Wes Santee and Bob Timmons are the first entrants for what will become an annual introduction for the Hall of Fame.

KU coach Stanley Redwine said today the community would have a chance to honor KU’s legendary athletes and also watch a Jayhawk team that had a lot of success during the first two days of the Relays.

“Tomorrow will be a great day to honor the history of this program and many of the people that helped make it successful,” Redwine said.

“That alone deserves the community’s support, but we also have a lot of current athletes that are doing exciting things, and people should come out and watch them and enjoy the wonderful weather.”

  • KU signees on hand: KU football signees Mike Rivera and Todd Haselhorst participated in the boys high school shot put competition.

Haselhorst, a senior at Olathe East, finished 11th with a top throw of 51-41/2. Right behind him was Rivera, a senior at Shawnee Mission Northwest, who threw 51-4 and finished 12th.

Rivera will be back at it today when he participates in the boys discus competition at 8 a.m.

  • Record-breaking day: Three records were shattered during the second day of competition.

Shawnee Heights senior Trisa Nickoley, a four-time winner at the Relays, broke her own record in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:06.67. Nickoley bested the mark she set last season of 2:12.53.

Fort Collins (Colo.) senior Sarah Stevens broke the 1982 Relays record in the girl’s high school shot put.

Stevens’ throw of 48-81/4 was nearly two feet better than the former mark set by Manhattan’s Pinkie Suggs.

Korene Hinds bested the 7-year-old 3,000-meter steeplechase record by 10 seconds. Hinds, who was unattached, finished in a time of 10:34.43.

  • Dazzling distance run: Despite nearly being blown off the Jim Hershberger track by a stiff breeze, the Jayhawk women’s distance medley team blew away the competition.

The Kansas quartet of Kim Clark, Octavia Garrett, Megan Manthe and Angela Pichardo outdistanced second-place Augsburg College by nearly 23 seconds, finishing in a time of 12:04.97.

“I knew we were going to win coming into the race,” said Clark, who also recorded a first place finish in Thursday’s 800-meter run in 2:11.30.

  • Bookman’s quest begins: Today, KU sprinter Leo Bookman will begin his quest to earn a spot on this summer’s United States Olympic team.

The two-time defending NCAA 200-meter indoor champ will not be running his specialty event, choosing instead to work on conditioning.

Bookman will run in both the 100 and 400 to strengthen his speed and endurance. The men’s invitational 100-meter dash is schedule for 2:50 p.m. today, while the men’s 400 invite will take place at 5 p.m.

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