* Lancaster's Natalia Surdej is the No. 1 weight thrower this season
Event: Weight Throw
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Athletes to Watch: Natalia Surdej (NY), Leah Moore (CT), Daiyanna Cooper (GA)
The weight throw features the top three throwers in the nation and is sure to see some fireworks. Lancaster's (NY) Natalia Surdej currently has the best mark in the nation with a 63-foot, 5-inch throw. Her mark is the best in the nation by over six feet. The Youngstown State Open/High School Meet #3 is where she hit that nation-leading mark, but she has been consistently over 56-5 since the U.S. Air Force Hispanic Games since January. She has two throws over 60 feet so far this year.
The current US No. 2 and No. 3 ranked athletes are Connecticut's Leah Moore and Georgia's Daiyanna Cooper, respectively. The two are very close in the rankings as Moore has thrown a PR of 57-5.75, while Cooper is only four inches off with a PR of 55-1.75. Moore has competed multiple times this indoor season, with all of the University of Kentucky's signee's marks clearing 50-11.75.
Cooper on the other hand only has one mark on her profile, but it was a PR and it came only a few weekends ago on Feb. 15 at the Southeast Showdown. These two ladies should be in a tightly contested battle for a top spot.
Other names who will look for personal best marks and possible podium finishes are the current US No. 9 ranked Sarah Ortes, US No. 10 ranked Serena Lalli, US No. 11 ranked Mackenzie Palinski and US No. 12 ranked Cara Salsberry.
All of those ladies will compete in flight two of the weight throw. There are a handful of athletes in flight one who could try and sneak onto the podium with big throws including US No. 15 ranked Riley Simmons, US No. 18 ranked Nicolette Ducharme and US No. 19 ranked Elizabeth Metz.