ONCE AN OLYMPIAN was not enough for Andrew Evans, the Kentucky alum who competed for 2 more years after Rio before leaving the sport. Nearly 4 years gone, he came back to the ring 2 seasons ago to give it another go. Good call. He won with a round-3 toss of 218-6 (66.61).
The qualifying on Thursday had been led by ’21 Olympian Reggie Jagers at 214-1 (65.52), with Evans next at 214-3 (65.31) and all the usual suspects advancing.
Sam Mattis, another ’21 Olympian, made his best bid for the team on the second throw of the final, hurling a season-best 216-9 (66.07). Turner Washington also produced a nice opening toss at 215-5 (65.66). Evans hit just 201-2 (61.32) and Joseph Brown, a former Div. II champion for Texas A&M–Commerce, was in even worse shape, with an opener of just 140-3 (42.76).
In round 2, Brown improved to 202-0 (61.58) to squeeze into the crucial 8th spot. Mattis fouled, and Evans passed four others to land in 3rd with his 213-2 (64.98).
Jagers made his best effort in round 3, reeling off a 215-8 (65.75) that helped him slide past Washington and into 3rd. Then Evans stepped up and produced his powerful 218-6 to wrest the lead from Mattis.
Two rounds later, little had changed. Evans scored a nice 216-7 (66.01) in round 5. Was the team set? Or would someone produce a last-ditch effort that could change things? Indeed, that decisive throw came from the guy hardly anyone was looking at, Brown, who moved from 8th to 3rd with his non-Ramona PR of 215-10 (65.79).
Jagers tried hard to regain his spot but ended up with a foul. Mattis fouled as well. Evans stepped into the ring one last time as the winner, hurling 212-11 (64.90).
The USATF champion in his return year of ’22, Evans says he was hampered last year by a plantar fascia rupture. Working full-time as a brewer, he says recovery time is tough to come by.
“It’s good to be back on top,” he said. “I felt like I had the potential to win today. Caught one — but it was tough. Everyone showed up today.”
Both Evans and Brown have the Olympic standard; Mattis will have to wait till after the next WA rankings are released.
MEN’S DISCUS RESULTS
FINAL (June 29)
1. Andrew Evans (unat) 218-6 (66.61)
(201-2, 213-2, 218-6, f, 216-7, 212-11) (61.32, 64.98, 66.61, f, 66.01, 64.90);
2. Sam Mattis (Nike) 216-9 (66.07)
(216-9, f, 212-8, f, 212-2, f) (66.07, f, 64.83, f, 64.67, f);
3. Joseph Brown (unat) 215-10 (65.79)
(140-3, 202-0, 199-0, 176-6, f, 215-10) (42.76, 61.58, 60.66, 53.80, f, 65.79);
4. Reggie Jagers (NikeUSAr) 215-8 (65.75)
(211-1, f, 215-8, f, 214-7, f) (64.34, f, 65.75, f, 65.40, f);
5. Turner Washington (unat) 215-5 (65.66)
(215-5, 199-7, f, f, f, 214-4) (65.66, 60.85, f, f, f, 65.33);
6. Marcus Gustaveson (Vel) 214-6 (65.39)
(205-4, 203-0, 214-6, 208-4, f, 209-1) (62.60, 61.88, 65.39, 63.50, f, 63.73);
7. Brian Williams (TS) 213-4 (65.03)
(213-0, 211-6, 205-4, f, 204-9, 213-4) (64.93, 64.48, 62.59, f, 62.40, 65.03);
8. Jordan Roach (unat) 204-2 (62.24)
(202-8, 204-2, 195-8, f, f, 201-1) (61.78, 62.24, 59.64, f, f, 61.30);
9. Mitchell Weber (Mo) 201-11 (61.55); 10. Jeff Williams (unat) 200-5 (61.08); 11. Dallin Shurts (BYU) 195-3 (59.53); 12. Milton Ingraham (Mia) 188-2 (57.36).
QUALIFYING (June 27)
Qualifiers: Jagers 214-11 (65.52), Evans 214-3 (65.31), Washington 213-3 (65.00), Mattis 211-10 (64.57), Weber 207-5 (63.23), Gustaveson 206-11 (63.07), Williams 205-3 (62.56), Brown 203-11 (62.16), Roach 202-3 (61.66), Williams 199-6 (60.82), Shurts 197-5 (60.17), Ingraham 197-3 (60.13);
Non-qualifiers: Zorawar Robbie Otal (unat) 195-5 (59.57), Josh Syrotchen (GarS) 193-11 (59.10), Jacob Lemmon (Va) 192-11 (58.81), Legend Hayes (GarS) 191-11 (58.51), Reno Tuufuli (unat) 189-10 (57.87), Michael Pinckney (UCLA) 189-6 (57.77), Sam Welsh (Rice) 188-6 (57.46), Seth Allen (unat) 186-9 (56.92), Devin Roberson (TxT) 186-4 (56.80), Brendon See (Ok) 186-0 (56.69), Malik Paul (unat) 181-0 (55.16), Samuel Weeks (GarS) 177-11 (54.23).
