Girls Thrower of the Year
Sophia Rivera (Junior/Brentwood, Missouri)
It's rare enough for a thrower to be excellent in two disciplines; Rivera is world-class in three. After sweeping the relatively normal shot-disc double at the Missouri state meet, she went on a postseason tear that included the javelin. (There's no javelin at the MO state meet, but she did win the javelin at the Kansas and Penn Relays)
At New Balance Outdoor Nationals, she won the shot and javelin and took sixth in the discus. At US Juniors, she took second in the shot and seventh in the jav. But, the same weekend, she took seventh in the javelin at the US Senior national championships. She followed that up by becoming the first athlete of any age in IAAF history to compete in two field event finals simultaneously--the shot and the jav--at World Youths, where she medalled in both.
By the end of the year, her 53-5¾ shot put PB made her the #10 performer in high school history; all nine girls ahead of her on the all-time list are seniors. And her 175-10 javelin PB ranks sixth in high school history, though she'll face stiff competition in 2016 from national record holder Madison Wiltrout.
Honorable mention: Madison Wiltrout, Elena Bruckner
- Dennis