IN FRIDAY’S QUALIFYING, the big news was the advancement in 2nd-place of Californian Justin Stafford, who PRed at 249-9 (76.12), a harbinger of things to come. Eliminated in the Q round was ‘23’s 4th-place finisher Brock Eager, who bowed out in 15th.
In Sunday’s final, the fireworks began early when 25-year-old Jordan Geist, the 72-foot shot putter from the University of Arizona, took the first-round lead with 250-1 (76.24), the first 250-footer of his life. Game on.
In round 2, a 31-year-old journeyman thrower from Widener University, in Chester, Pennsylvania, Tyler Williams, threw 2cm short of Geist for what was likewise his first-ever 250-footer; Geist improved 3 inches to 250-4 (76.30), and Stafford spun out a 1-inch PR at 249-10 (76.14). At the round’s conclusion, the Olympic team was Geist-Williams-Stafford.
In round 3 the big boys, in the form of Daniel Haugh and Rudy Winkler, showed up. Haugh — the ’19 NCAA champion for Kennesaw State and USA champion in ’22 — said it was time to get serious as he launched the hammer 260-10 (79.51), a seasonal best. You could hear his roar across adjacent Agate Street.
The veteran Winkler, looking for his third Olympic berth, moved into contention with 252-0 (76.80), but he was passed by… Stafford! The 6- 6 (1.99) 28-year-old, a Pac-12 scorer for UCLA but never an NCAA finalist, improved again, to 252-10 (77.07), for 2nd entering the final 3 rounds.
In round 5 Winkler, the ’17 champion for Cornell, finally moved into the runner-up slot, throwing 258-10 (78.89). Geist did not improve but Williams got close with 251-1 (76.55) on his final throw. It was the first hammer competition in history to have 5 Americans beyond 250ft.
While Haugh and Winkler have the Olympic standard, Stafford is 4ft short and would appear to be shy of enough WA rankings points to reach Paris.
Said winner Haugh, “Not the best series of my life. But it’s throwing; all you need is one big throw and we got it done. My training’s the best it’s ever been. I believe there’s much more in there than 79.50 but it’s great that that’s there, it was enough to win and we’ve got 4 to 5 weeks to dial in and prepare us to get that big throw out that I know is in there.”
Winkler and Haugh, both 29, have both been WC and OG finalists in recent years, but neither has finished higher than 6th. The last American Olympian medalist is Lance Deal, silver in Atlanta in ‘96.
MEN’S HAMMER RESULTS
FINAL (June 30)
1. Daniel Haugh (NYAC) 260-10 (79.51) (AL)
(237-2, 249-8, 260-10, f, f, f) (72.29, 76.10, 79.51, f, f, f);
2. Rudy Winkler (NYAC) 258-10 (78.89)
(247-9, f, 252-0, 243-4, 258-10, 252-10) (75.51, f, 76.80, 74.18, 78.89, 77.07);
3. Justin Stafford (TSSBay) 252-10 (77.07) PR
(242-2, 249-10, 252-10, 243-7, 242-5, 242-3) (73.83, 76.14, 77.07, 74.24, 73.90, 73.84);
4. Tyler Williams (TSGarS) 251-1 (76.55) PR
(244-6, 250-1, 242-6, f, 246-2, 251-1) (74.53, 76.22, 73.93, f, 75.03, 76.55);
5. Jordan Geist (IronW) 250-4 (76.30) PR
(250-1, 250-4, 242-9, 239-8, 243-5, 239-0) (76.24, 76.30, 74.01, 73.07, 74.21, 72.85);
6. Tarik O’Hagan (Ms) 244-7 (74.54) PR
(228-6, 244-7, 241-1, f, 243-5, f) (69.65, 74.54, 73.48, f, 74.21, f);
7. Israel Oloyede (GCan) 243-10 (74.32)
(236-3, 233-6, 243-10, f, f, f) (72.02, 71.17, 74.32, f, f, f);
8. Alex Young (unat) 241-7 (73.63)
(236-8, 241-7, 231-5, 239-5, 239-6, 232-6) (72.15, 73.63, 70.54, 72.98, 73.00, 70.86);
9. Trey Knight (CSUN) 241-4 (73.57); 10. Tyler Merkley (unat) 239-0 (72.86); 11. Morgan Shigo (Vel) 236-0 (71.94) ; 12. Isaiah Rogers (T1D) 230-1 (70.13).
QUALIFYING (June 28)
Qualifiers: Winkler 252-11 (77.08), Stafford 249-9 (76.12), Haugh 245-10 (74.94), Oloyede 244-11 (74.66), Geist 244-0 (74.38), Williams 242-10 (74.03), Knight 242-6 (73.91), Shigo 241-11 (73.75), Rogers 240-7 (73.33), Merkley (unat) 239-8 (73.06), Young 239-7 (73.02), O’Hagan 239-4 (72.96);
Non-Qualifiers: Logan Blomquist (Vel) 235-0 (71.62), Avery Carter (unat) 234-9 (71.57), Brock Eager (IronW) 234-8 (71.54), Parker Feuerborn (SEMo) 234-1 (71.36), Tanner Berg (unat) 233-7 (71.21), Texas Tanner (AFA) 233-7 (71.20), Johnnie Jackson (unat) 233-1 (71.04), Kieran McKeag (unat) 230-9 (70.34), Kade McCall (KsSt) 220-9 (67.28), Christian Johnson (Duke) 219-11 (67.05), Kristofer Emig (UCLA) 218-9 (66.68), Grayson Fleming (SupT) 214-10 (65.49).