All eyes on the throwers

RATHDRUM — It was the closest thing to a home pit advantage that Coeur d’Alene High senior Grady Leonard could ask for in a national competition.

While he might not have won in the high school boys discus competition, he did set a personal best with a throw of 187 feet, 4 inches.

All that, without even practicing following his state 5A championship win two weeks ago.

“It was definitely great to come out and throw in a relaxed enviroment,” said Leonard, who won the state 5A discus championship at Dona Larsen Park in Boise on May 20. “I definitely think I’m good for more, but it was great to come out and get into a groove again.”

Leonard, whose previous best in the discus was his state-winning throw of 182-6, added he’d been focusing more on the shot put than discus leading into the Ironwood Throws Classic, which began on Friday at the IronWood Training Center.

“Training hasn’t really stopped as I’m getting ready for Junior Nationals,” Leonard said. “Mainly the shot put though, because I really didn’t throw the discus this week.”

Junior Nationals is June 23 in Sacramento, with the top two finishers in that event moving onto the Pan Am Games in Peru this summer.

“That would be exciting to see what happens there,” Leonard said.

Leonard is still weighing his college options. He said he will take visits to Indiana and Nebraska before making his final decision.

“I took a visit to Penn State already as well,” Leonard said. “I guess it really hasn’t sunk in yet because school doesn’t feel like it’s going to end.”

Turner Washington — competing with a 1.75 kilogram discus instead of the common 1.6 — won the boys discus with a throw of 212-4, the second-best mark nationally at that weight.

The event, which concludes with the hammer throw and shot put today at 2 p.m., attracts the top men, women and high school throwers in the United States. Leonard, who won the state shot put title two weeks ago, is scheduled to compete in that event today.

For the first time in the meet’s history, the javelin was contested.

In that event, Sklyar Ciccolini of Lewistown, Pa., moved into the top spot in the nation in the girls javelin with a personal best of 164-9.

“When I threw, it felt really solid,” Ciccolini said. “I knew a good number was coming, but it felt too easy. I didn’t think I’d break 60 (meters), but I was kind of aiming at it all year.”

Ciccolini found out about the meet through the NASF (National Scholastic Athletics Foundation) Project Javelin Group.

“It’s a beautiful area,” Ciccolini said of North Idaho. “The facility is great and I’ve never been on a brand new runway before.”

The javelin runway was installed just last week.

Ariana Ince won the women’s javelin with a throw of 186 feet.

“The wind was a little blustery today,” said Ince, who is ranked second in the nation in the event. “You could see it caught a couple of the javelins, but it also teaches you to throw the javelin properly and not just wing it out there.”

The boys javelin was won by Liam Christensen of Charleston, S.C., with a mark of 214-4.

“I was struggling for the most part getting my technique down a little bit,” Christensen said. “But the atmosphere is great. I couldn’t have asked for anything better anyway.”

In the men’s discus, fourth-seeded Rodney Brown claimed a victory with a mark of 214-5.

“It was a great atmosphere,” Brown said. “It’s kind of like throwers heaven out here. There’s not many places you can go that have good conditions and you’ve got throwers support. When you go to a track meet, everyone wants to see the sprinters.”

Brown hit the winning mark on his third attempt of the afternoon after fouling on the his first attempt.

“Things started clicking for me a little bit a few weeks ago,” Brown said. “Last week, I hit the standard and now I can relax and go out and throw and have a little fun. I felt like I was in good shape to hit a good number and I did. And you can’t be mad about that.”

Gia Lewis-Smallwood won the women’s discus with a mark of 215-10. She holds the American record of 226-11.

GIRLS JAVELIN — 1, Sklyar Ciccolini, 164-9. 2, Dana Baker, 161-9. 3, Meghan Owens, 152-5. 4, Lillian Hill, 141-3.

WOMEN’S JAVELIN — 1, Ariana Ince, 186-0. 2, Katie Reichert, 157-9. 3, Christina MacDonald, 140-9.

BOYS JAVELIN — 1, Liam Christensen, 214-4. 2, Gavin Darcy, 207-5. 3, Ty Hampton, 202-3. 4, Zechariah Blake, 193-1.

MEN’S JAVELIN — 1, Riley Dolezal, 260-4. 2, Andrew Bloom, 222-0. 3, Ben Woodruff, 203-3.

GIRLS DISCUS — 1, Makenli Forrest, 169-8. 2, Shelby Moran, 162-4. 3, Kathleen Young, 149-2. 4, Cindy Mehl, 125-3.

WOMEN’S DISCUS — 1, Gia Lewis-Smallwood, 215-10. 2, Valarie Allman, 210-9. 3, Whitney Ashley, 207-8. 4, Liz Podomonick, 194-4.

BOYS DISCUS — 1, Turner Washington, 212-4. 2, Grady Leonard, 187-4. 3, Clayton Hannula, 172-4.

MEN’S DISCUS — 1, Rodney Brown, 214-5. 2, Andrew Evans, 211-6. 3, Sam Mattis, 208-1. 4, Tavis Bailey, 204-7.