ONE OF THE BEST techniques for winning a big meet is to put up a PR when all those around you are not. And that’s just what Tripp Piperi did, although truth be told, he could have had only the fourth-best meet of his life and still won. The Texas soph fouled on 4 of his 6 attempts but at his best hit 69-3¼ (21.11) to win by more than a foot over defending champ Denzel Comenentia of Georgia (68-1¾/20.77).
Piperi, the No. 2 choice on the formchart coming in, fouled his first put, so Jordan Geist of Arizona led after the initial round at 66-3¼ (20.20), followed by Comenentia (65-6/19.96) and favored Payton Otterdahl of North Dakota State (65-3¼/19.89). Otterdahl had raised the indoor CR to 71-6¾ (21.81) but hadn’t had a 70-footer since April 20. He wouldn’t improve here and ended up 4th.
Piperi banged out his biggie in round 2, and while the rest of his series was a less-than-write-home-about 67-3¼ (20.50), foul, foul, foul, he was still able to win by more than a foot. Comenentia threw progressively farther in rounds 2-3-4 (66-5¾/20.26, 67-2¼/20.48, 68-1¾/20.77) but despite improving by half a foot over last year couldn’t successfully defend. Geist improved to 66-7¾ (20.31) in round 3 but didn’t change places. Nor did Otterdahl, who ended up 4th.
Said the homestanding Piperi, “I don’t think people are used to this heat and humidity, so that’s always a plus, and I’ve got a lot of my family and friends here to support me. I wouldn’t say those are the biggest factors, but it was nice having them here and being able to show out for the fans
and being at home, it’s great. A lot of [the key to success] is just being in the right mindset. I listen to a lot of music
and I get really fired up, which is one way to put it. Coming into big meets like this, I’ve just got to trust my form. I’ve been doing it all year, I’ve been practicing non-stop, just
working at it, and this is not the meet to really think about it, it’s just ‘go.’
“Winning was great. I can’t really explain that much, I was just ecstatic. I’ve been thinking about that for weeks—just being able to look up to the stands and be like, ‘I did it here at home. I did it for y’all.’ That type of feeling is unbeatable, especially now.”
NCAA MEN’S SHOT RESULTS
FINAL
(June 05)
1. **Tripp Piperi (Tx) 69-3¼ (21.11) PR
(f, 69-3¼, 67-3¼, f, f, f) (f, 21.11, 20.50, f, f, f);
2. Denzel Comenentia’ (Ga) 68-1¾ (20.77)
(65-6, 66-5¾, 67-2¼, 68-1¾, 67-1½, 66-7¾) (19.96, 20.26, 20.48, 20.77, 20.46, 20.31);
3. **Jordan Geist (Az) 66-7¾ (20.31)
(66-3¼, 65-6, 66-7¾, f, 66-½, f) (20.20, 19.96, 20.31, f, 20.13, f);
4. Payton Otterdahl (NDSt) 65-3¼ (19.89)
(65-3¼, f, f, f, 62-8¾, f) (19.89, f, f, f, 19.12, f);
5. Dotun Ogundeji (UCLA) 64-8¾ (19.73)
(f, 61-6¼, 64-8¾, f, f, 64-3) (f, 18.75, 19.73, f, f, 19.58);
6. Matt Katnik (USC) 64-5¾ (19.65)
(63-7, f, 64-5¾, f, f, f) (19.38, f, 19.65, f, f, f);
7. **Nate Esparza (UCLA) 64-5¾ (19.65)
(61-5, f, 64-5¾, 63-4¾, f, 61-10¼) (18.72, f, 19.65, 19.32, f, 18.85);
8. *Andrew Liskowitz (Mi) 64-½ (19.52)
(f, 64-½, f, 63-5½, f, 62-3¾) (f, 19.52, f, 19.34, f, 18.99);
9. **Joseph Maxwell’ (Tn) 63-11¾ (19.50) PR;
10. ***Otito Ogbonnia (UCLA) 63-9½ (19.44);
11. **Connor Bandel (Fl) 63-4 (19.30) PR;
12. Oghenakpobo Efekoro’ (Va) 62-10½ (19.16);
13. Corey Murphy (Monm) 62-9½ (19.14);
14. **Burger Lambrechts’ (Nb) 62-½ (18.91);
15. ***Kristoffer Thomsen’ (NDSt) 62-¼ (18.90);
16. **Jonah Wilson (Wa) 61-9 (18.82);
17. Kord Ferguson (Al) 61-8½ (18.81);
18. *Eric Favors (SC) 60-11¼ (18.57);
19. **Alex Talley (NDSt) 60-8 (18.49);
20. *Isaiah Rogers (VaT) 59-11¾ (18.28);
21. ***Santiago Basso (Al) 59-5 (18.11);
22. **Chance Ehrnsberger (OhSt) 59-0 (17.98);
23. *Darius King (NnIa) 55-5½ (16.90);
… 3f—Noah Castle (Ky).◻︎
