Best shot just misses mark
Knoch’s Geist can’t quite reach elusive 70-foot plateau
A legendary track and field and athlete was in Jordan Geist’s sights literally.
So Geist moved close to him. Less than 2 inches, actually.
Geist is a sophomore at Knoch High School who already has become one of the top high school shot-putters in the country. At the 42nd annual Baldwin Invitational Friday, he came within 1¾ inches of becoming the best shot putter the WPIAL has seen.
Geist won with a throw of 69 feet, 1 inch. He broke the meet record and came close to what was once thought to be an unreachable WPIAL record. Forty-three years ago, Baldwin’s Ron Semkiw threw the shot 70-1¾ at the WPIAL championships at Shaler. No one had come close to Semkiw’s mark — until Geist.
And Semkiw was on hand to watch. Semkiw, who still lives in Baldwin, took the short drive to Baldwin Stadium to watch Geist. Semkiw, 61, also presented the medals to Geist and the top eight finishers in the shot put.
“A friend of mine told me some sophomore was throwing 66 feet, so I had to come see him,” said Semkiw. “To throw 69 feet, that’s fantastic.”
For Geist, he has had three more good Fridays after Easter. Two Fridays ago, he set the Butler Invitational record with a throw of 661½. Last Friday, he won the Penn Relays in Philadelphia with a throw of 67-1¼. His throw at the Baldwin Invitational moved him from third to second on the national list. And he was aware Semkiw was watching. In fact, Semkiw talked to Geist after his three throws in the preliminary round.
“It was definitely an honor to have him there, cheering me on, supporting me and giving me tips,” said Geist. “He was telling me about everything from throwing, to lifting, to the mental aspect of things.”
Semkiw expects Geist to break his mark, possibly at the WPIAL championships in two weeks. Geist broke Semkiw’s stadium record of 67-11¾, set in 1972.
“The thing about him is he has athletic ability,” said Semkiw. “A regular person without his athletic ability would’ve thrown 10 feet less.”
Geist also won the discus with a throw of 174-11. He was one of two sophomores who set meet records. The other was Connellsville’s Madison Wiltrout, who won the girls javelin with a throw of 160-10, breaking the mark of 155-1 by Wilmington’s Inge Jorgensen in 1997.
But Wiltrout has gotten to the point with her talent that the meet record wasn’t totally fulfilling. She has thrown more than 160 feet a few times this year, and her throw of 168-5 at the Penn Relays last week is second best in the country this year.
“I wish I could have done better. It’s a little disappointing,” said Wiltrout. “But it’s still 160, which is a pretty good throw.”
Two other sophomores shined. Ambridge’s Isaac Elliott won the 100 (11.13) and 200 (22.12), and Beaver Falls’ Domenic Perretta won the 800 (1:52.44) and McKinney Mile (4:11.53.).
The other double winner in boys was Upper St. Clair’s Lyle Banton, who won the 110 (14.76) and 300 hurdles (39.53).
The double winner for girls was Valley’s Ameriah Walters, who won the 200 (25.32) and the 300 hurdles (45.19).
Mt. Lebanon’s 3,200 relay team set a meet record with a time of 9:21.58.