Geist wins shot put in record showing
SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. — Jordan Geist let out a yell — for effort. A few seconds later, a couple of hundred fans packed into the bleachers and lining the throwing area followed with a loud cheer — for appreciation.
It was the noisiest shot put heave one could imagine at a high school meet. But it was a shot heard round the country.
Geist, a junior at Knoch High School, added a little more to his already large legacy when he won the PIAA Class AAA shot put Friday at Shippensburg University. Geist threw a personal best 74 feet, 3½ inches. Not only did he break the state championship meet record held by a 2012 Olympian, Geist became only the fourth athlete to throw 74 feet in the history of U.S. high school track and field.
The kid with the bulging muscles and menacing goatee has turned the shot put — and himself — into something of a spectacle. You usually don’t see hundreds of people watching the shot put at the PIAA championships. When his name was first announced to the crowd, he was the only one who got a loud cheer.
After the event, as Geist walked into Shippensburg’s Seth Grove Stadium to receive his gold medal, some stopped and stared. He’s like a high school celebrity.
“Look, that’s him. That’s that Geist,” one woman said to her child.
Geist admitted to noticing some electricity in the crowd.
“[Friday], I tried to take a little bit of a moment before I got into the [throwing] circle, to just look around and see how many people came to cheer me and support me,” Geist said. “That helped keep my adrenaline up and it helped me on that first throw.”
Geist had his winning throw on the first attempt. He threw it past the cinder throwing area and into the grass. He fouled on four of his final five attempts. His previous best was 73-0¾ at the Penn Relays. For Geist, it was a case of Jordan rules — again. He competed in six invitationals or championships during the high school outdoor season, and broke the meet record in every event. At the PIAA meet, Geist broke the record of 70-0, set by Central Dauphin’s Ryan Whiting in 2005. Whiting made the U.S. Olympic team in 2012 and now is an assistant coach at Arizona State. Geist already has visited Arizona State and he said the school is No. 1 on his list.
With a year to go, Geist seemingly has a chance at the national record of 77 feet, set by Michael Carter of Jefferson High in Dallas in 1979.
“This year, my goal was to try and just live in the moment, soak things up and not look that far ahead,” Geist said. “But 77 feet is definitely possible and it would be awesome next year. But I’m just trying to keep mind on the discus now.”
Geist will compete in the PIAA discus today. All of the finals in running events are today as well as finals in half of the field events.
Geist was one of two WPIAL athletes who won a gold medal Friday. The other was Laurel’s Jake Wilson, who won the Class AA javelin with a throw of 195-3. He is only the second boy from Laurel to win a PIAA championship. The other was Evan Miller, who won the 800-meter race in 2010 and watched Friday from the stands.
“He’s our cross country coach,” Wilson said. “He joked with me that I’m not the first Laurel kid to win a state championship, so don’t feel that special. But I do feel special. To be only the second one from Laurel to do this feels good.”
Wilson had his winning throw on the first attempt of the finals.