Trey Knight’s good summer became even better over the weekend with a pair of championships at the USA Track and Field Junior Olympics National Championships.
Competing for Vancouver’s Evergreen Storm Track Club, Knight won both the shot put and the discus for boys ages 13-14 at the meet in Sacramento. On Saturday, he won the shot put with a meet-record mark of 61 feet, 8 1/4 inches. He followed up with a discus title on Sunday with a mark of 196 feet, 5 inches.
On July 10, Knight set a national shot put record for 14-year-old boys with his mark of 64 feet, 8 3/4 inches at the regional meet.
At nationals, Knight avenged his only losses as a competitive thrower. Two years ago, Dylan Carter of Tennessee beat Knight in the shot put and discus at the Junior Olympics nationals. This time, Knight easily outdistanced Carter in each event.
Having Carter to throw against “helped a lot. I really wanted to beat him,” Knight said.
Knight quickly took command in Saturday’s shot put competition. After opening with a foul, Knight’s second attempt went more than 60 feet to give him a 10-foot cushion over Carter. His meet-record mark came on his final attempt.
Knight said he was not nervous about the shot put, but was nervous abut Sunday’s discus competition. He ended up beating Carter by almost 20 feet, but the competition was much closer until Knight made strong throws on his first two attempts in the finals.
“I got my hip around and whipped it really well,” Knight said. “Everything clicked nice.”
Knight, who is entering his freshman year at Ridgefield High School, said he will take a break before he begins training with heavier implements in preparation for high school competition and for winter indoor throwing meets.
