PIAA States Preview: Girls' Throws


AAA Girls' Shot Put Preview

2018 has been a dream year for Payden Montana of Berwick so far. After dominating during the indoor season, the senior Penn State signee has been even better outdoors. She's the top shot putter in the nation, owning the best two throws -- both over 50 feet. She won at the Penn Relays with a throw of 5-07 and added a throw of 50-04.25 to win the District 2 title.

She'll look to finish off the PIAA portion of her high school career with a second straight title and we'll see if she can take a swing at the outdoor state record, which is 50-11 (just four inches off!). She will certainly be looking to take down the PIAA meet record, 50-01.25.

Keeley Suzenski of Berks Catholic has also put up some fantastic numbers this season, too. The District 3 champ has won every competition with the exception of the Penn Relays where she took fifth. Her season best stands at 45-01.5. The junior will look to close out her season with a strong showing.

A number of other girls have thrown well over 40 feet this season. Hempfield Area's Mackenna Orie tossed a best of 43-10 this year. She took second at WPIALs to Baldwin's Laurel Bristow. Bristow, a senior threw a PR of 41-11 to win District 7. Both Orie and Bristow will be in the mix for high finishes. Abby Whitaker of Corry Area threw a nice PR of 42-01 to win the District 10 crown. That's about a foot and a half better than her previous best. She's throwing well at the right time. 

Montana is the only returning medalist from last year, but Spring Grove's Airika McCaskill was ninth, just missing the podium. She was the District 3 runner-up and has a best of 40-08 this season. She'll have a great shot to break into the medals this year. So will Solanco's Anna Cooney. The senior was third in D3, but threw 41-09.25 to win the L-L League a few weeks ago.

Hazleton's Keturah LeGette, Souderton's Maria Deaviz, and Hempfield Area's Rachel Hutchinson will also compete for the eight podium spots in this very deep, potentially historic girls' shot.

ENTRIES:

Event 316  Girls Shot Put AAA (26)
===============================================================================
 NFHS Record:  57-01.25  2017        Alyssa Wilson, Donovan Catholic HS, NJ    
 PIAA Record:  50-01.25  1980        Elaine Sobansky, Trinity 7                
NFHS Hnr Rol:     46-00                                                        
               37-06.00  SQS
           Name                        Year School            Seed Mark     Finals
===============================================================================
  1        Montana, Payden               12 Berwick 02         50-04.25   SQS  
  2        Suzenski, Keeley              11 Berks Cath 03      43-08.00   SQS  
  3        Whitaker, Abby                12 Corry Area 10      42-01.00   SQS  
  4        Bristow, Laurel               12 Baldwin 07         41-11.00   SQS  
  5        Klinger, Piper                12 Selinsgrove 04     41-02.50   SQS  
  6        Orie, Mackenna                11 Hempfield 07       40-03.75   SQS  
  7        LeGette, Keturah              11 Hazleton Area 02   39-08.00   SQS  
  8        Deaviz, Maria                 10 Souderton 01       39-06.00   SQS  
  9        McCaskill, Airika             12 Spring Grove 03    39-02.00   SQS  
 10        Hutchinson, Rachel            12 Hempfield 07       38-06.00   SQS  
 11        Morgan, Darby                 11 Coatesville 01     38-02.25   SQS  
 12        Brown, Jordan                 11 Strath Haven 01    38-01.50   SQS  
 13        Washington, Zhayria           11 WC Rustin 01       38-01.00   SQS  
 14        Cooney, Anna                  12 Solanco 03         38-00.50   SQS  
 15        Katcavage, Cecilia            12 Haverford Twp 01   37-11.50   SQS  
 16        Hughs, Hannah                 11 Elzbth Forwrd 07   37-07.50   SQS  
 17        Thomas, Kasey                 11 Easton Area 11     37-07.25   SQS  
 18        Gilliam, Sarah                10 Bethel Park 07     37-07.00   SQS  
 19        Raezer, Jenna                 12 Ephrata 03         37-06.75   SQS  
 20        Pighetti, Gabrielle           12 Bellefonte 06      37-04.00        
 21        Adeniyi, Adeola               12 Susquehnn Twp 03   37-02.75        
 22        Blalock, Symphonie            12 Springfield 01     36-09.25        
 23        Coffman, Abby                 12 Bradford Area 09   35-05.50        
 24        LaPorta, Julia                12 Sthrn Lehigh 11    35-03.25        
 25        Bierling, Hannah              11 BonnerPrendie 12   33-01.00        
 26        Sakhokia, Tamta               10 Geo Washingtn 12   32-05.00