Richardson, Harlow Win Shot Put Events
Parry McCluer High School throwers Kamilah Richardson and Griffin Harlow both won the shot put to lead strong individual performances by members of the Fighting Blues’ track and field teams on Thursday evening at Floyd County High School.
Richardson, a senior, set an outdoor personal record in the girls’ shot put with a toss of 37 feet, 9.5 inches, just 5.5 inches shy of the school record set by 2019 PM graduate Tristen Clark when she made a throw of 38-3 to place second in the Class 1 state meet as a senior. Richardson, who has already qualified for the state meet in the shot put, won comfortably on Thursday, with Narrows thrower Reagan Freeman placing second with a toss of 31-3. In the discus, Richardson placed second with a heave of 86-7, trailing only Floyd County’s Chloe Spence’s winning throw of 105-7.
PM throwing coach Danny Cole said Richardson, who won the state indoor title in the shot put in early March with a throw of 38-2.25, had a couple of throws that went farther than 37 feet at last Thursday’s meet. “With a little more work on her speed, I foresee her breaking the school record soon,” said Cole. “She is consistent.”
In the boys’ shot put, Harlow won with a toss of 49-2.5, while Floyd County’s Jonah Gardner placed second with a throw of 48-1.5. Harlow placed seventh in the discus with a heave of 124-10.
“Though Griffin won, he is in somewhat of a throwing slump,” said Cole, noting that the junior has been under 50 feet in the shot put the last two meets and throwing in the 120s in the discus, not his best. Harlow has already qualified for the state meet in both events.
“He knows what the issue is and just needs to break down his spin to allow him to his power position. Griffin is a great self-analyst who has thrown so much that he can tell when things are not right. Better to happen now than at the end of the season.”
Also stepping up for the PM throwers was senior Rayshan Richardson, placing fourth in the boys’ shot put with a personal-record (PR) toss of 45-6.5, just shy of a state-qualifying mark. Richardson finished second in the discus with a throw of 137-4, trailing only Floyd County’s Phillip Radford’s winning heave of 146-6.
Cole said Rayshan’s discus throws remain consistent in the upper 130s to 140s, and he looks for Rayshan to hit the 46-foot mark in the shot put soon.
PM junior Brendan Holdren placed eighth in the boys’ shot put with a PR toss of 38-3.5 and finished 18th in the discus with a heave of 91-11. Also stepping up for the PM boys was Timber Thomas, placing 13th in the shot put with a toss of 37-1.5 and finishing 25th in the discus with a heave of 80-11.
Optimistic about Thomas, Cole said the 6-foot-3-inch, 275-pound freshman should make “some great strides once he learns the full technique and becomes comfortable with his glide and spin.”
For PM girls, junior Keeli Wheeler placed sixth in the discus with a throw of 67-5 and finished 10th in the shot put with a toss of 24-11. It was Wheeler’s first time placing in the top six to earn honors in placement in a bit statequalifying invitational meet.
Also throwing for the PM girls was senior Presley Austin, placing seventh in the discus with a heave of 61-6 and coming in 16th in the shot put with a toss of 21-9.5.
“Presley and Keeli remain consistent in both shot put and discus, and they are learning the spin in discus and glide in the shot,” said Cole.
The Blues brought three runners, all boys, with most of their top runners taking the week off from competing.
PM sophomore Henry Lovelace placed second in the 110-meter hurdles in 16.78 seconds, trailing only Floyd County’s Ethan Krantz’s winning time of 16.25 seconds. “Henry ran another solid race,” said PM head coach Chris Poluikis.
Lovelace, who had already qualified for the state meet in the 110-meter hurdles, competed in the 300-meter hurdles for the first time, finishing fourth in 46.98 seconds.
PM freshman Sebastian George placed third in the 1600-meter run in 4:57.48, breaking five minutes for the first time, and finished 12th in the 800meter run in 2:26.57.
Also racing for the PM boys was sophomore Sam Carpenter, placing seventh in the 1600-meter run in 5:08.79 and eighth in the 800-meter run in 2:20.34, both PRs.
Reviewing the meet, Poluikis said, “Overall, it was a good trip.”
The Blues will bring their throwers and more of their runners to the Knights Track Classic on Saturday at Cave Spring High School in Roanoke, starting at 9 a.m.
