Friday (4/29): High School Field Preview
High School Boys' Discus Throw Championship - Event 708 (Friday 12:45 PM)
Saint Marys Area's Tom Bojalad (PA#4) is the top PA entry in the discus. Bojalad has seen a drastic improvement in the event from a year ago. He picked up wins at Altoona and Kane so far this season.
Another PA thrower is Eric Kasperowicz of Holy Ghost Prep. He's also improved a great deal and already has four invitational wins to his name this season and a PA#5 throw of 176-6.
Schuylkill Valley's Joey Mundell is also in the field. He threw 176-0 to win the state championship in AA last outdoor season, but he hasn't hit those distances this season yet. He'll look for Penn to be his break out day.
Look for US#3 Ethan Dabbs of Richland in the boys' javelin (Photo by Don Rich)
High School Boys Javelin Throw Championship - Event 712 (Friday, 2:45 PM)
Like the girls, PA has no shortage of representatives in the javelin throw. 11 of the 22 boys entries are from Pennsylvania. At the top is the PA#1 and US#3 thrower in the event, Ethan Dabbs of Richland. Dabbs' season best of 208-0 will be the mark to beat on Friday. PA#3 and US#12 Michael Marsack will also be there. He'll look to eclipse that 200-foot mark.
Bedford's August Cook (PA#5), Cathedral Prep's Grayson Hill (PA#6), West Allegheny's Skyler Mason (PA#8), and Palmyra's Alex Hoffsmith (PA#9) make up the next tier that could sneak in for the upset victory.
Boyertown's Elijah Shalaway, Cedar Crest's Evan Horn, Bloomsburg's Elijah Knapp, State College's Erik Ebel, and Hatboro-Horsham's Thomas Haas make up the rest of the PA field.
Jordan Geist of Knoch will look for the repeat at Penn this weekend (Photo by Phil Grove)
High School Boys' Shot Put Championship - Event 714 (Friday, 4:30 PM)
Another defending champion will head to the circle to look to win yet another Penn Relays crown. That is, of course, Jordan Geist of Knoch. Geist won last year with a throw of 67-1, but Geist is much improved since then. He's since broken both the indoor and outdoor state records in the shot put, throwing 72-9.5 indoors and 71-9.25 so far in this young outdoor season. He's the heavy favorite to repeat.
Wissahickon's Yondell Dudley is the only other PA entry. His best throw came indoors when he tossed the shot 55-8.