The drama in the men’s hammer came in an unusual place at an unusual time. With Georgia’s Denzel Comenentia—No. 2 on the formchart—having his best day, the issue was whether favored Gleb Dudarev of Kansas would join the battle long enough to get to the finals.
He did not.
In an early stunner to kick off the meet, Georgia junior Comenentia ran away with the competition on his first throw (244-11/74.65) before officially getting the day’s longest mark with a PR 250-8 (76.41) on his fifth attempt to move to No. 10 on the all-time collegiate list
The stunner wasn’t that he added 5 inches to his Dutch Record to improve on his 5th from a year ago, it’s that Dudarev was already eliminated before the final 3 throws began, ending up with a best of 227-0 (69.18) to take 12th.
“I was kind of surprised; especially in the warmups he had really good throws, I though we would be in a head-to-head battle,” Comenentia said. “It is what it is; it happens sometimes.”
As it was, Comenentia had the three best throws of the competition and could have headed to the medal stand after his first toss. Florida’s Anders Eriksson, who came in as No. 4 on the chart, took the silver at 242-0 (73.76), though he had to go from 7th to 2nd on his final attempt to pass LSU frosh Jake Norris (240-3/73.24).
Comenentia, 11th as a frosh and 5th as a soph, passed his final try, but was glad he stuck around for 5 throws. “Everything lined up perfectly,” he said of his PR, a throw he began celebrating with a shout and a jump in the circle before the ball even landed. “A couple of throws before, I found my rhythm, then the fifth throw, it felt good, you could tell by my scream. I knew it.”
NCAA MEN’S HAMMER RESULT
(June 06)
1. *Denzel Comenentia’ (Ga-Neth) 250-8 (76.41) NR (10, x C; 5, x NCAA)
(244-11, 243-10, 237-3, f, 250-8, p) (74.65, 74.33, 72.31, f, 76.41, p);
2. *Anders Eriksson’ (Fl) 242-0 (73.76)
(234-5, f, 235-7, 232-7, 231-1, 242-0) (71.47, f, 71.80, 70.91, 70.43, 73.76);
3. ***Jake Norris’ (LSU) 240-3 (73.24) PR (WJL)
(229-8, 240-3, 219-8, 228-7, 233-8, 236-6) (70.00, 73.24, 66.95, 69.69, 71.22, 72.10);
4. Rudy Winkler (Rut) 238-8 (72.74)
(230-2, 234-1, 238-8, 233-5, 234-9, f) (70.15, 71.35, 72.74, 71.15, 71.57, f);
5. *Daniel Haugh (Al) 238-7 (72.72) (f, 226-6, 231-4, f, 238-7, f)
(f, 69.04, 70.52, f, 72.72, f);
6. *Morgan Shigo (PennSt) 237-9 (72.47) PR
(232-10, f, 232-0, 237-8, f, 237-9) (70.97, f, 70.73, 72.44, f, 72.47);
7. ***Thomas Mardal’ (Fl) 236-10 (72.20) PR
(236-10, 229-2, 227-11, f, 234-8, 222-5) (72.20, 69.87, 69.46, f, 71.54, 67.81);
8. *AJ McFarland (Fl) 233-10 (71.29) PR
(222-11, 229-2, 232-7, 233-10, 220-6, f) (67.94, 69.87, 70.89, 71.29, 67.21, f);
9. *Adam Kelly (Prin) 230-6 (70.27)
(217-11, 226-4, 230-6, 220-11, 228-9, 230-3) (66.43, 69.00, 70.27, 67.35, 69.73, 70.19);
10. ***Kevin Arreaga’ (Mia) 229-10 (70.07);
11. *Hilmar Orn Jonsson’ (Va) 229-5 (69.94);
12. **Gleb Dudarev’ (Ks) 227-0 (69.18);
13. Michael Shanahan (NH) 226-11 (69.16);
14. *Brock Eager (WaSt) 223-0 (67.97);
15. Cristian Ravar Ladislau’ (ArSt) 222-3 (67.75);
16. *Silviu Bocancea (Cal) 215-0 (65.54);
17. *Justin Stafford (UCLA) 210-9 (64.25);
18. Mitch Dixon (KsSt) 210-6 (64.17);
19. **Joshua Hernandez (SHous) 208-2 (63.46);
20. **Ricky Hurley (SnIl) 206-11 (63.07);
21. ***Kieran McKeag (Mn) 204-10 (62.45);
22. *Avery Carter (Mo) 204-1 (62.21);
23. Nicholas Percy’ (Nb) 202-5 (61.70);
24. Jacob McBride (NDSt) 199-3 (60.75).
(best-ever mark-for-NCAA place: 4–13, at least) □
