Photo by: Austin Melius
Staying with the thrower and jumper theme this week, we have two future field event stars in PA who have performed impressively this year.
Each week, we will be highlighting a future star of Pennsylvania. These are athletes, typically underclassmen, who have the potential to be stars tomorrow. We will highlight a couple of athletes each week.
Zachary Chandler
Strath Haven • Class 2027
An impressive triple jumper, Chandler already showed his talent last year when he cleared a mark of 41-5.75 feet at the Central League Individual Champs. Over the off-season, he improved and became more consistent in every jump. This indoor season was his shortest, and his first jump was 41-2.5 feet.
Through this indoor season, he has had many great jumps; his best one has come from the TFCAofGP Last Chance Meet with a second-place finish and a mark of 45-4 feet. He has been able to keep this great form through the last two meets, having his personal best and a mark of 44-2.75 at Kristian Marche Memorial Invitational.
He is one of two underclassmen to qualify for the PTFCA State Championship, and he is ranked seventh overall. He will have to perform well this weekend to move up the rankings if he wants to win, but with his consistency over the past few meets, he will have a good shot at podiuming or even placing in the top three.
Victoria James
Methacton • Class of 2027
She already showed her skill in shotput last season at the PIAA T&F State Championships, placing fourth as a freshman, but she has only improved this indoor season. Last year, James consistently improved from her first meet until she broke her record, hitting a mark of 39-4 feet, improving on her first mark of the year by exactly eight feet.
She has kept up what she started last season this indoor season, winning every meet this season and improving her personal record to 40-6.75 feet. She has been extremely consistent this season with less than a two-foot difference from her shortest mark to her best.
With states this weekend, James is ranked fourth going into the meet. She is less than two feet from the best throw of the year in PA; however, that was thrown back on January 17th. The girls' shot put should be one of the best events to watch this weekend as the top 11 athletes are only separated by three feet.