The Boys shot put has 13 throwers over 50 feet with Waynesboro\'s Purvis at 54\'4\" and Liberty\'s Lindamood (55\'7\") set to re-run the Region II battle. The Boys discus is no slouch either. 14 throwers at 145\' with Kevin Boggs (171\'8\") nipping at the 28 year record of 177\'5\" set in \'77 by R.E. Lee\'s Steve Kluge.
In the Girls Discus the strongest field since the late 70\'s with four girls entering over 130 ft. Lord Botetourt\'s Mikulus, Spotswood\'s Showalter, Liberty\'s Hull and Park View\'s Baird get a lot of attention. Baird, only a freshman, enters at 138\'2\"...only 9 inches from the state record set by Haught of John Battle in \'81. Also of note in the girls discus... there are 4 freshman in the final flight. Cummings of Fort Defiance(111\'8\"), McCall of Bassett(119\'), Hamilton of Harrisonburg(122\'6\") and your leader, Baird are the future. WOW! In the Girls Shot Put the battle staged in Region II will play again as Crawford of R.E. Lee(41\'4\") and Clark of Liberty(42\'8\") run 3 feet ahead of the crowd.
All in all, a throw fan\'s dream at JMU for the AA State Championships this weekend, especially Friday eveing with the Boys shot and Girls discus. Girls Discus/Boys Shot on Friday at 5:30 and Boys Discus/Girls Shot on Saturday at 9:30
...and not to short change you running fans, there\'s Sarah Bowman the national girls distance leader and Ashley Early of Western Albemarle ranked nationally in the vault and oh my, AA is going to rock.
Joe Showker-Valleytrack.org