Maria Deaviz of Souderton Area is the new US No. 1 in the shot put.
At Wednesday's Shot Put Night In The Valley held at Perkiomen Valley High School, Deaviz took over the state and national lead in the shot put with a big toss of 49 feet, 3 inches. The put netted her the win by nearly 12 feet.
After an injury prevented Deaviz from competing at the outdoor state meet, the motivated senior and University of Virginia commit has started off her winter campaign with some big throws.
Check out the results from Wednesday's Shot Put In the Valley below.
| PLACE | ATHLETE | TEAM | RESULT | H# | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maria Deaviz | 12 | Souderton Area | 49-03.00 | 1 | ||
| 2 | Maura Baker | 11 | Spring Ford | 37-06.00 | 1 | ||
| 3 | Madison Gallagher | 12 | Boyertown | 34-04.50 | 1 | ||
| 4 | Renee Simmonds | 11 | Boyertown | 33-09.00 | 1 | ||
| 5 | Sarah Thayres | 12 | Souderton Area | 33-04.00 | 1 | ||
The senior Deaviz improved on her PR and season best of 47-10.75, which she threw back on December 13 at a DVGTCA meet. That throw was just a quarter inch off the PA No. 1 and US No. 1 put, which was previously held by Shenango's Emma Callahan. The breakthrough sophomore threw 47-11 at Youngstown State on January 11.
It's been another banner season in the shot put for Pennsylvania on the girls' side. The Keystone State currently makes up the top two spots in the national rankings between Deaviz and Callahan and four of the top ten. Council Rock South's Siniru Iheoma sits at US No. 8 with a best of 45-4 and Germantown Academy's Meaghan Toscano is at US No. 10 (45-1.75).
Deaviz' 49-3 moves her up to PA No. 4 all-time in the indoor shot put. East Juniata's Heather Colyer's toss of 52-5.75 is the state record, which has stood since 1997. Penncrest's Karen Shump sits at No. 2 with her best of 52-4 from 2008. Payden Montana of Berwick, the outdoor state record holder, is just ahead of Deaviz on the all-time PA indoor list with her best of 49-5.25 set at the indoor state meet in 2018.
The shot put is shaping up to be Pennsylvania's most competitive event on the state level and a number of girls should be in the mix for the national title in March. There's still plenty of time for the rankings to shift, and now, the 50-foot barrier is looking more and more attainable.
On the boys' side at Shot Put Night In The Valley, Northern Lebanon's Dylan Lambrecht won with a put of 54-0, a PA No. 11. Pennridge's Josiah Landis was second at 53-2.75.
Watch an interview with Deaviz after the Ocean Breeze Invitational a few weeks ago below.