Penns Grove High graduate Avory Ransome, a freshman at George Mason, won the Atlantic 10 shot put title Sunday with an outdoor PR 50-7 1/2.
Ransome became the first George Mason thrower ever to win an A-10 shot put title indoors or outdoors.
Ransome had a very consistent series, averaging 48-7 3/4 with the 16-pound shot on his six throws at George Mason’s stadium in Fairfax, Va.
The Pedricktown native, seeded No. 3, opened at 49-5 1/2 to secure a spot in the finals, then finished the first round with a 47-10 3/4 and a 48-6 1/4.
In the finals, he opened with a 45-4 1/4 and was sitting in seventh place when he popped a 50-2 on his fifth throw to move into second. He then locked up the win with the 50-7 1/2 on his final throw, winning by 5 1/2 inches over Rhode Island’s Ryan Roger.
Ransome, fifth in the indoor A-10 meet in Kingston, R.I., surpassed his previous outdoor PR of 49-8. He threw 51-5 1/4 indoors at the Father Diamond Invite at GMU’s indoor facility.
Ransome also scored in the hammer throw this weekend, placing eighth with a personal-best 152-0. His previous best hammer was a 143-4 at a meet at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond.
Ransome graduated from Penns Grove with a 4.0 GPA and was a member of the National Honor Society and the school’s salutatorian.
He threw 55-11 1/2 with the 12-pound ball at Penns Grove (where his name was generally spelled “A-V-E-R-Y”) and was twice a runner-up in the state Group 1 meet in the shot.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 