TUCSON — Some of the nation’s top throwers will bring the heat at the USATF Throws Festival at the University of Arizona’s Drachman Stadium this Saturday. The silver-label event promises men’s and women’s fields in all throws along with men’s and women’s high jump and pole vault.
Any conversation about women's high jumping in the U.S. over the past eight years has to begin with Vashti Cunningham. Winner of 14 USATF indoor and outdoor titles, Cunningham won the World Indoor title as a teenager in 2016 and is still only 26 years old. She has competed at the last two Olympics and at four outdoor World Championships to go with her two trips to the World Indoors. Cunningham has a PB of 2.02/6-7.5 and ranks fourth on the all-time U.S. performer list. Jamaica's Kimberly Williamson is a three-time World Championships competitor who was the Pan American Games bronze medalist in 2019 and Commonwealth Games bronze medalist in 2022. One other American to keep an eye on is Jelena Rowe, who set her PB of 1.96/6-5 at this meet in 2021.
Last year's USATF Indoor Championships silver medalist Emily Grove has the highest PB in the field at 4.75/15-7, set in 2022, and she has consistently been among the best in the country. She was a 2017 World Championships qualifier and placed sixth at the 2012 world U20 meet. This year she tied for fifth at the USATF Indoors and she was the NACAC silver medalist in 2022. Rachel Baxter is Grove's nearest competitor on paper and was NCAA champion indoors for Virginia Tech in 2022. Baxter has a PB of 4.62/15-1.75 that she set in winning that collegiate crown. She was a finalist at the 2015 world U18 meet and twice a finalist at the world U20 championships.
Jamaica's Danniel Thomas-Dodd has impressive credentials that include a silver medal at the 2019 World Championships, gold at the 2019 Pan American Games and gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. She has a PB of 19.77/64-10.5 from last year's USATF LA GP. Four-time NCAA indoor and outdoor champion Adelaide Aquilla was last year's Pan American Games bronze medalist and has a PB of 19.64/64-5.25 to rank 10th on the all-time U.S. performer list. She has been on Team USATF for the last three global outdoor championship meets, nabbing an Olympic berth in 2021 and then two World Championships spots. 2021 Olympic Trials champion Jessica Ramsey blasted a big 20.12/66-0.25 to win that title and she is on the way back from giving birth last year. She won the Drake Relays indoor competition last week and was seventh at the USATF Indoors. Her PB ranks her sixth on the all-time U.S. performer list and is the best in this field. Jessica Woodard was eighth at the 2022 World Championships in Eugene and placed fourth at the USATF Indoors this year, while Josie Schaefer is a relative newcomer to the international scene who has a PB of 18.98/62-3.25 and was the 2021 NCAA silver medalist for Wisconsin.
Coming off a World Championships trip last summer and a sixth-place finish at the Pan American Games, Elena Bruckner improved her PB to 62.38/204-8 last weekend. She was third at the 2023 Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships and has improved by more than 15 feet since graduating from college. Nigeria's Chioma Onyekwere has competed at three World Championships and has the best PB in the field at 64.96/213-1. She took Commonwealth Games gold in 2022 and is a two-time African champion. Runner-up at the 2021 Olympic Trials, Micaela Hazelwood set her PB of 62.54/205-2 at that meet but has faced a tough road back from a pec injury. Another thrower on the comeback trail is Gabi Jacobs, who was a three-time Southeastern Conference champion for Missouri in 2017-2019 before making the Olympic Trials final in 2021. She didn't compete for the last two years but is back in top form now as evidenced by her PB toss of 63.51/208-4 last month.
This star-studded field is one of the marquee events in the meet, led by 2022 world champion Brooke Andersen. The second-best thrower in American history with a PB of 80.17/263-0 that was set here last year, Andersen tops the world list this year at 76.91/252-4. She was the Pan American Games silver medalist in 2019 and an Olympic finalist in Tokyo. Janee' Kassanavoid has a silver and a bronze from the past two World Championships and is third on the all-time U.S. performer list at 78.00/255-11. The first Native American woman to win a medal at the World Championships, Kassanavoid opened her '24 campaign with an impressive win in Kenya at the Nairobi World Continental Tour stop, hitting 75.99/249-3. Two more Americans with recent World Championships trips to their credit are Jillian Shippee and Annette Echikunwoke. Shippee was fourth at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships last year and gained a spot on the world team because of Andersen's wild card berth, while Echikunwoke was 12th at Eugene 22. Two-time USATF indoor 20-pound weight throw champion Janeah Stewart is sixth on the all-time U.S. list with a PB of 75.43/247-5. International flavor is provided by China's Zheng Wang, the Olympic silver medalist at Tokyo and owner of three World Championships medals. Her PB of 77.68/254-10 dates back to 2014. Countrywoman Jie Zhao, the 2023 Asian champion and 10th-place finisher at the 2023 World Championships, is a young talent, and Canada's Jillian Weir was the fifth-place finisher at Eugene 22.
Former American record holder Maggie Malone-Hardin opened her season with a fourth-place finish at the Suzhou Diamond League meet in China last week. Malone-Hardin set the AR at 67.40/221-1 three years ago and is a two-time Olympian who made the past two World Championships teams. She is the two-time defending Olympic Trials champion and won here in 2023. Veteran Ariana Ince earned Pan American Games bronze in 2019 and has been on every global championship squad since 2017. She has a best of 64.38/211-3 that ranks her fourth on the all-time U.S. performer list. Last year's USATF champion and Pan American Games bronze medalist Maddie Harris set her PB of 60.73/199-3 to win the U.S. title and she was the NCAA silver medalist for Nebraska in 2022. Canadian record holder Liz Gleadle has oodles of international championship experience, including three Olympic Games and four World Championships. Her PB of 64.83/212-8 came in 2015.
A world medalist at the U18 and U20 level, Darius Carbin leads the American entrants with a 2.30/7-6.5 PB. He was on the 2022 World Championships team and was the NCAA silver medalist that year. Matching Carbin's PB, Earnie Sears won the Pac-12 title in 2022 for USC and is returning to competition this year after an injury nixed his 2023 season. International jumpers offer stern competition for the U.S. contingent, with Canada's Django Lovett sporting a 2.33/7-7.75 PB and an eighth-place finish at Tokyo in 2021 to go with a sixth-place effort at Eugene 22. India's Tejaswin Shankar, a two-time NCAA champion for Kansas State, holds his nation's record at 2.29/7-6 and was the 2022 Commonwealth Games bronze medalist.
Two-time World Championships team member Zach Bradford leads this all-American field, bringing a PB of 5.91/19-4.75 that he set to earn silver at the NCAA Indoor Championships last year. He was third at the 2023 Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships to earn his second Worlds trip, and he placed seventh at the Pan American Games last November. Luke Winder was on the Eugene 22 squad after taking silver at the USATF Championships, and he has cleared a best of 5.80/19-0.25 in his career. The other entrant with World Championships experience is Cole Walsh, who tied for 10th at Doha in 2019. He set his PB of 5.83/19-1.5 that year in Zurich. 2019 Pan American Games bronze medalist Clayton Fritsch has gone over 5.82/19-1 and was the NCAA silver medalist in 2022.
Named USATF Athlete of the Week last week, Payton Otterdahl opened his '24 season in a big way at the Drake Relays, moving to sixth on the all-time absolute U.S. performer list with an indoor 22.59/74-1.5. He added a victory in the outdoor competition for good measure, hitting 22.14/72-7.75. Otterdahl was fifth at the World Championships last summer and was an Olympic finalist in Tokyo. Another 22-meter man, Roger Steen, was the runner-up at the USATF Indoor Championships in February to earn a trip to the World Indoors in Glasgow, and he was fourth at the Pan American Games last year. Steen notched his PB of 22.03/72-3.5 in Tucson last May. Tripp Piperi, who picked up silver and bronze at the world U20 level and gold at the world U18 meet in 2015, was eighth at the World Championships in 2022 and has a best of 21.74/71-4. Twice a medalist at the Pan American Games, Jordan Geist was the NCAA indoor and outdoor champion for Arizona last year. He has a PB of 21.59/70-10 and was the USATF Indoor bronze medalist in February. Jamaican record holder Rajindra Campbell is one of the rare lefties in the event, and he has a best of 22.22/72-10.75, while Nigeria's Chuk Enekwechi holds his country's record at 21.80/71-6.25 and has an Olympics and four World outdoor championships to his credit, along with a pair of World Indoor trips. Silver medalist at the 2023 Pan American Games and bronze medalist in 2019, Mexico's Uziel Munoz is also a contender with a PB of 21.88/71-9.5 from last year's USATF LA GP.
One of the top throwers in the world of late, Jamaica's Fedrick Dacres has a basket full of medals, including a silver from the 2019 World Championships. Dacres has a huge PB of 70.78/232-3 and has thrown in five World Championships and two Olympic Games. Reggie Jagers has the top mark by an American this year with a PB 69.16/226-11. Left-handed, Jagers sometimes has difficulty with the winds that favor right-handed throwers, but he won the USATF title in 2018 and was an Olympian at Tokyo. Arizonan Turner Washington won NCAA gold for Arizona State last year before taking second at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships and earning a trip to Budapest. Washington, whose dad, Tony, was a world champion, has a best of 66.32/217-7. He won two NCAA discus titles and two NCAA indoor shot put crowns. Other top challengers include three-time World Championships team member Brian Williams, a 66.14/217-0 man who was ninth at Budapest last summer, and Dallin Shurts, who upped his PB to 66.58/218-5 last month. Josh Syrotchen was sixth at the 2021 Trials and has thrown 66.21/217-2 in his career.
The three men who have been the stalwarts of American hammer throwing over the past three years are all here and ready to fight it out for top honors. American record holder Rudy Winkler has a best of 82.71/271-4 and has been a competitor at every Olympic Games, World Championships, and Pan American Games since 2016. He earned bronze at last year's Pan Ams and was eighth at Budapest. Daniel Haugh was the 2022 USATF champion and was the silver medalist ahead of Winkler at the Pan Am Games last year. His PB of 80.18/263-1 puts him fourth on the all-time U.S. performer list, and he has made five straight major international championships appearances. Thrice a World Championships team member, Alex Young is on the brink of a top-10 all-time U.S. ranking with his PB of 78.32/256-11. He won the USATF crown in 2017 and has won two indoor 35-pound weight throw golds as well. Denzel Comenentia of the Netherlands won NCAA shot put and hammer golds for Georgia in 2018 and has a best of 78.01/255-11 that placed him third here last year.
Reigning USATF champion and Pan American Games gold medalist Curtis Thompson is the No. 3 all-time U.S. performer with a PB of 87.70/287-9. He has won three U.S. titles, and goes up against Belgian Tim Herman, who has a best of 87.35/286-7. Herman was a finalist in Budapest last summer and has won nine Belgian titles, but his PB is more than 20 feet better than his next best throw. 2022 USATF gold medalist Ethan Dabbs was the NCAA runner-up for Virginia that year and he has a best of 82.92/272-0, while Marc Anthony Minichello was the 2022 NCAA winner for Georgia and has thrown 82.32/270-1. Ranked fifth all-time in the U.S., Michael Shuey won the 2019 USATF gold and set his PB of 85.67/281-1 in 2021. Shuey was an Olympian in Tokyo and made the World Championships team in 2019. One of the elder statesmen of the event, Tim Glover was the NCAA champion in 2011 and 2012 and earned a World Championships berth at Eugene 22. Glover's PB of 84.09/275-10 puts him sixth on the all-time U.S. performer list. Last year's USATF runner-up, Capers Williamson, boasts a PB of 80.49/264-1. Nigeria's Chinecherem Nnamdi was the 2021 world U20 bronze medalist and earned bronze at the 2023 NCAA Championships for Baylor. Fans can watch live on USATF.TV+ starting at 5:20 p.m. ET on Saturday, May 4. A full schedule and live results can be found here.