PORTLAND -- Ryan Crouser (right) threw the discus 202-6 at an all-comers Throwers Meet Tuesday night, June 16, at the Mac Wilkins Throws Center to set an all-time Oregon record and become the first Oregon prep ever to throw more than 200 ft. Crouser, a sophomore at Barlow H.S. in Gresham, also broke the national sophomore record of 201-2 set nine years ago by Kevin Bookout of Stroud, Okla.
Three days earlier, at the Portland Throws Festival at the same location, Crouser and his cousin Sam had set lifetime bests in three different throwing events. In that meet, on Saturday June 13, Sam, a junior at Gresham H.S., threw the javelin 239-0, a state record and the 2nd-longest ever by a high school thrower. The national high school record is 241-11, set in 1988 by Tommi Viskari, a Finnish exchange student who was attending Amsterdam H.S. in New York State.
Ryan that day did 67-7 in the shot and 198-10 in the discus, both personal bests. The shot mark is 4 inches short of the Oregon all-time best of 67-11, by Chris Sprague of South Eugene in 1998. That's the mark he was shooting for tonight. The discus mark actually broke the Oregon record of 197-11, by Brent Patera of Sprague in 1985. Ryan broke that record again on Tuesday night.
His series Tuesday was 195-1, foul, 196-4, 202-6 (61.73 meters), 
185-5, 187-9.
185-5, 187-9. Sam Crouser's sister Haley, an 8th-grader at Dexter McCarty Middle School in Gresham, (left) threw a PR on Tuesday in the javelin of 139-5.
Alyssa Hasslen of McMinnville (top left) had what are believed to be lifetime bests in both the shot and disc, 49-5 and 158-7. The shot put is believed to be 3rd in the U.S. for this season and the 2nd-best all-time in Oregon. The DT mark is 2nd this year in the state, behind the new state record set this spring by Laura Bobek of Astoria, at 162-1.
Sam Crouser had another excellent javelin throw on Tuesday, 225-5. Justin Schlaht, a senior at St. Helen's, had a PR of 188-3. Greg Skipper, a sophomore from Sandy, (top left with his arm extended) threw the H.S. hammer 174-4 and 6K implement 172-0.
In the women's hammer, Caressa Sims, right (photo courtesy of Portland State University), a 2008 graduate of Portland State, continued her pursuit of a qualifying mark for this month's USATF nationals. She is less than 3 feet away. She had the first 60-meter throw of her career earlier this month. Sims plans to throw at Camas, Wash., on Saturday, the last day of the qualification period. "I'm getting close," she said. "I'm going for it."
In the women's hammer, Caressa Sims, right (photo courtesy of Portland State University), a 2008 graduate of Portland State, continued her pursuit of a qualifying mark for this month's USATF nationals. She is less than 3 feet away. She had the first 60-meter throw of her career earlier this month. Sims plans to throw at Camas, Wash., on Saturday, the last day of the qualification period. "I'm getting close," she said. "I'm going for it."
/JP/
Article by Jack Pfeifer
Photos by Kim Spir/thanks to PSU for the photo of Caressa Simms!