Northern Lebanon's Dylan Lambrecht has picked up right he left off last winter. The shot putter, who saw some big improvements last winter as a junior, showed on Saturday that he just keeps getting better into his senior year.
Lambrecht took third in the shot put at the VA Showcase in Virginia Beach, posting a best of 60 feet, 3 inches at the new facility down south. That is good enough for an early season PA No. 1 for Lambrecht. It's also a US No. 4 after the VA Showcase's invitational shot put saw three of the nation's top four puts.
Cooper Mack of South Dakota took the win with a national-leading put of 64-9.75 and North Carolina's Spencer Williams was second with a best of 60-3.5, just a half inch better than Lambrecht's 60-3.
| PLACE | ATHLETE | TEAM | RESULT | H# | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cooper Mack | 12 | Unattached - SD | 64-09.75 | 1 | ||
| 2 | Spencer Williams | 11 | Unattached NC | 60-03.50 | 1 | ||
| 3 | Dylan Lambrecht | 12 | Unattached - PA | 60-03.00 | 1 | ||
| 4 | Jordae Edwards | 10 | Unattached VA | 52-01.75 | 1 | ||
| 5 | Thomas Gaertner | 12 | Unattached VA | 51-09.00 | 1 | ||
Last winter was a major breakthrough season for Lambrecht, who posted some big PRs en route to a season best of 56-1.75 at the state meet, where he placed fourth against a very talented field that included two of the nation's top three shot putters, Fleetwood's Jeff Kline and Wilmington's Connor Vass-Gal. Lambrecht missed out on a traditional outdoor season like everyone else due to the coronavirus pandemic (though he did top 57 feet at a pair of outdoor throws meets in the spring), but he has wasted little time getting some big performances out there to open up his senior year.
Kline has graduated, but Vass-Gal -- also a senior -- made his indoor season debut on Saturday, as well, throwing 59-6.5 for the shot put win at Youngstown State. While we may not get the head-to-head matchup between Lambrecht and Vass-Gal this winter, this is something worth keeping an eye on as we move into the outdoor season.
Expect plenty more puts well over the 60-foot barrier. Watch Lambrecht's state-leading performance from Saturday at the VA Showcase below, via his Instagram account.