Jordan Geist cemented his name in the record books on Saturday (Photo by Phil Grove)
On Saturday, the junior became the state's new indoor king with the 12-pounder, dethroning former world champion Ryan Whiting in the process. Geist's heave of 69 feet, 6.5 inches also is a lifetime best and moves the right-hander up to US#9 on the all-time list indoors.
"Definitely, just PRing this season was a big one," Geist said. "I think the next (goal) ... is probably going to be trying to hit 70 feet."
Geist's new PR and state record replaces the 68-11.25 by Whiting from the 2005 PTFCA state meet. The old mark was the longest of three 68-plus meets that Whiting put together in his senior indoor season at Central Dauphin before heading on to NCAA and world shot titles under cover.
"In my first meet, being that close to the state record, it was definitely a goal to shoot for," Geist said of his season-opening 68-6 mark on December 17 at Hempfield Area. "(Setting the record) today and PRing is definitely a great thing."
According to family friend and club coach Mike Hambrick, the new record holder followed the game plan to the letter Saturday. With his coaches looking for opening throws of about 63 and 66 feet, Geist pushed the ball out to 63-10.5 and 66-5.5 before closing out the second of three flights on top with a 66-9.5 throw.
"They were all good finishes, but they weren't a perfect linear finish," Geist said of the difference between his trio of 66-footers and the record effort. "They still had a little bit of roundness to them, but that last one I had was a good linear finish."
In the finals, Geist opened at 64-11 before breaking Whiting's record in round 5. The junior's final toss measured 66-1.5 for a six-throw average of nearly 66-3.5.
"It's definitely a good confidence booster, knowing that I can throw far and not foul especially with the consistency that I had today," the Knoch standout said.
Next up for Geist, who does not have a meet below 65-10.25 and a measured throw under 60 feet thus far this indoor season, is the historic 70-foot barrier. Eight preps have bettered it indoors, while 23 - including Whiting at 70-0 in 2005 and Baldwin's Ron Semkiw at 70-1.75 in 1972 - have hit the mark outdoors.
"The first thing I thought about Jordan's throw was how proud of him I am," Knoch throws coach Judy Geist said of her son's record breaker, which occurred on the Slippery Rock University campus where both she and her husband Jim were All-Americans in the throws. "He has sacrificed a lot to earn this success and is really deserving of all his achievements. To coin the 'cheesy' phrase, he has only just begun is an understatement.
"He has so much more ahead of him. I can't wait to see what he will do next. The help and guidance from Joe Kovacs (at last month's National Throws summit) was a help and a blessing. It makes a difference having a world champion tell you something compared to your mom/coach!"
Geist, whose outdoor PR is 69-1, is scheduled to return to the ring three more times this month before a full schedule in February and the opportunity at a second consecutive state indoor title and a trip back to the Big Apple for the New Balance Indoor Nationals in March.
