With more snow squalls than rays of sunshine, it took some effort to get warmed up and stay warm Saturday at the Knoch Track and Field Relays.
Despite temperatures that never made it out of the low 20s and wind chills in the single digits, a number of state and national top 10 performances were recorded, with the leading efforts coming from the right arm of an underclassman who felt right at home.
The frigid weather kept one of the country's top shot putters under wraps but not for long. Fresh off a fourth-place finish in the New Balance Nationals Indoor two weeks ago, sophomore Jordan Geist of Knoch shook off a pair of sub-60-footers in the opening rounds before sending the 12-pound ball flying toward the back of the sector.
“It's definitely cold just to keep it in your hand, nonetheless press it against your neck," Geist said of the chilly conditions' effect on the metal orb and the competitor. “It's really just tough to throw far on a day like this."
Competing in his home circles, Geist opened his day with puts of 54 feet, 7 inches and 57-2. Both efforts placed the sophomore at the top of the Pennsylvania charts thus far in the 2015 outdoor season but were far from the string of 60-footers that he unleashed indoors from January through early March.
“It was all just trying to get a feel for just having my uniform on, instead of having all of the sweats on, trying to go through the circle on a cold day," Geist, whose best indoors was 66-0.75 on Valentine's Day, said of the adjustment from throwing in a climate-controlled environment.
He hit the outdoor national top 10 with a 61-8.5 in round 3 and climbed into US#2 at 63-7.5 on his fourth and final toss. A year ago, Geist went 61-4 in his school's new invitational to burst onto the national scene.
“On a day like this especially, I can't be disappointed," Geist said. “That's my farthest throw outdoors yet this season. Hopefully it just keeps improving."
Geist's new outdoor PR leads the state rankings by almost 12 feet and also compares favorably with the state history books. His top effort Saturday would have finished first or second in the final state rankings each year back through 2005.
The Knight's final event of the cold, windy day was the discus, where he matched a lifetime best of 173-1 to jump to PA#3.
The only concession that meet officials made to Mother Nature's final (hopefully) wintry blast was turning the 4 x 1,600-meter relays into mini road races to keep the meet moving along amidst blasts of snow. All four runners on the seven girls' relay teams toed the line simultaneously without batons, while the larger boys' field was split into two groups, with each school having a pair of runners run four laps each to determine a cumulative time and the event winners.
In the opening boys' running event of the day, Canon-McMillan held off Slippery Rock to win the 4x800 in a PA#10 8:31.35. The boys' 4x200 also had a pair of strong showings from Aliquippa (PA#5 1:41.26) over Seneca Valley (PA#6 1:41.62).
Other top performers in the field events were James Hugley of Avonworth/Northgate clearing a T-PA#10 6-1 in the high jump, while Punxsutawney's Perry Arrington and Canon-McMillan's David Duffey each cleared 11-6 in the pole vault.
Knoch's Brennan McTighe also grabbed a spot in the shot put PA top 10 with a 49-7.5 heave for the No. 7 spot. Two in the discus - Moniteau's Brendon Stamm (PA#6, 148-0) and McTighe (PA#9, 139-0) - also cracked the top 10, while Canon-McMillan's Jordan Smith moved to PA#8 in the javelin at 165-2.
For the girls, Emma Lizewski of Seneca Valley went 33-3 in the triple jump, while Rachel Kroneberg of Knoch threw 33-3 in the shot and a PA#9 111-7 in the discus.
