Index: Shot Put (Boys & Girls) - Weight Throw Preview - Pentathlon Preview
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* Henry Zimmerman is coming off a career best in Ohio in the weight throw
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Boys Weight Throw
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Contenders: Kyle Moison (Lincoln, RI), Henry Zimmerman (New Albany, OH), Logan Coles (Woonsocket, RI), Ruben Banks (IMG Elite, FL), Jayden White (Everett, WA), Nick Pisciotta (Commack, NY), Tyler Arbaugh (Van Buren, OH), William Cauley (Barrington, RI), Michelson Salomon (Mount Pleasant, RI), Jayden Dubard (Cheektowaga, NY), Philip Coppolino (Cumberland, RI)
Breakdown: Like the shot put, the boys weight throw is missing the top ranked athlete in the nation. In this case, though, that athlete (Trey Knight (WA)) also happens to be the second best weight thrower in US history.
Which makes this anyone's event to win.
Kyle Moison and Henry Zimmerman appear to be the two front runners heading into Sunday's event. Moison is undefeated this season, throwing over 70 feet 11 times in 12 tries. His 78-8.5 personal best came at the RIIL State Indoor Championships. Sunday will mark exactly a month since that performance.
Zimmerman, on the other hand, is fresh off a massive victory at the OATCCC Division 1 State Championships, where he tossed a meet record 78-1.5 to climb to US No. 3.
Moison and Zimmerman finished fourth and eighth here last year.
But Tyler Arbaugh is the top returner from NBNI. He sits US No. 8 with his 73-10 mark, but finished as the 2019 national runner-up with a 73-8 heave. With four boys between 75 and 78 feet, and four more between 70 and 73, Arbaugh will have his work cut out for him if he hopes to improve on that placing.
But the field entering this year's meet is far superior to 2019's field as six boys enter with a mark better than 75 feet, compared to only one boy in 2019.
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* Monique Hardy will be searching for a national record weight throw at NBNI
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Girls Weight Throw
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Contenders: Monique Hardy (Webster Thomas, NY), Cheyenne Figueroa (Classical, RI), Natalia Surdej (Lancaster, NY), Ava David (Lake Oswego, OR), Julia Garcia (Cornwall, NY), Zoe Vlk (Wilson Central, TN), Alliya Boothe (Bloomfield, CT), Kira Lindner (Horace Greeley, NY), Emma Kowalski (Hilliard Darby, OH), Kayley Ragazzini (George H. Hewlett, NY)
Breakdown: Last year's national champion is back to defend her crown. And based on 2020's rankings, it looks like it's her event to lose.
Monique Hardy, No. 2 all-time with her personal best this season, enters with the top throw of 66-11.25, which is over four feet further than Rhode Island's Cheyenne Figueroa (62-8.5). Hardy won the meet with a 64-7.25 throw, a full six-and-a-half feet ahead of second place.
Figueroa finished third with a 57-11.25 mark. Hardy has lost only twice in this event since her sophomore year -- the 2018 NBNI meet (4th) and the 2019 Millrose Games (2nd) -- so it's looking very likely that she can pull in another gold on Sunday.
If Figueroa can't take her down, then look for fellow New Yorker Natalia Surdej or Ava David of Oregon to make a run at it. Both of those girls will need to bring their 'A+' games, though, as they sit over 8 feet behind Hardy on the year.