From Left: Darrell Hill, Joe Kovacs, Gary Aldrich (Team USA Men's Throws Coach), and Ryan Whiting (Photo Provided By Aldrich)
75 percent of the men's shot put squad on Team USA hails from Pennsylvania.
The IAAF World Championships kick off Friday in London, and on Saturday the men's shot put has its qualification round, one of many events where the Americans figure to have a great deal of success.
And three of the four entries from Team USA happen to be Pennsylvania high schools alums. Joe Kovacs (Bethlehem Catholic '07), Ryan Whiting (Central Dauphin '05), and Darrell Hill (Penn Wood '11) make up a Keystone State invasion to the shot put circle this weekend. Ryan Crouser originally from Oregon and the University of Texas also qualified.
Kovacs, a Penn State graduate, was the gold medalist in the last IAAF World Championships in Beijing in 2015. He he followed that up with a silver medal at the Rio Olympic Games last summer. In May, Kovacs threw a personal best of 22.57 meters at a meet in Tucson, Arizona. He was second to Crouser at the USATF Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
Because Kovacs won in 2015, Team USA was granted a fourth entry into Worlds rather than the usual three that countries are allotted per event.
Whiting, the former PA high school indoor state record holder who went on to star at Arizona State, just missed out on the Olympic team last summer, but he took third at USAs in June with a toss of 21.54 meters. He was twice an IAAF World Indoor champion and was second at the 2013 IAAF World Championships in Moscow. He has a personal best of 22.28 meters from 2013.
Hill, another Penn Stater, made his first Olympic team last summer after an incredible last round personal best throw at the Trials. At UCLA in April, Hill unleashed another big PB, throwing 21.91 meters for the win at the Rafer John John/Jackie Joyner Kersee Invitational.
The favorite headed into the weekend may be Crouser, who earned gold at the Olympics last summer in Rio and then won the national title last month. But the Pennsylvanians, headed by a hungry Kovacs, will certainly be in the mix.
The qualifying round begins Saturday at 5:00 A.M EST and the finals are set for 3:35 P.M. EST on Sunday.