Athlete Spotlight: Nikolas Huffman
Jun 09, 2012
This past year, Virginia High School junior Nikolas Huffman became more than just an emerging great discus thrower in Virginia. Huffman transformed himself into an elite performer in the shot put as well as recently capped off a year of growth with breaking a 30 year old Group A State Championship meet record in the shot with a personal best mark of 58'8.50". Coached by his father, a throws coach and former thrower himself in the 1980s at Virginia High School, Huffman has become a full-time thrower and spent the winter months finding meets which he can compete at. During the winter, he got the opportunity to try the weight throw which is the sister event of the outdoor throws event in the hammer throw. At the Volunteer Track Classic in Tennessee in mid-April, Huffman was an impressive runner-up finisher in the hammer despite limited competition experience with a throw of 186'8". The discus is still his original and current specialty as he repeated as Group A state champion in the event and improved his personal best this season to 181'1" to establish himself as the third ranked performer in Virginia regardless of classification. MileStat.com interviewed the Group A three-time throws state champion Huffman as he prepares for the New Balance Outdoor Nationals in Greensboro, which he is qualified and competing in the championship divisions of three throwing events (shot, discus, hammer).