In his first discus competition for Rutgers, Collingswood High School graduae Adam Hunt won the event at the Maryland Invitational Saturday with a huge personal best and the No. 4 mark in Rutgers history.
Hunt threw 174-7 on his sixth and final throw, winning by 10 inches over Penn State’s Thomas Bojalad, who threw 173-9.
Hunt threw 162-9, 163-3 and 156-6 in the trials but then bombed the three best throws of his life, PR’ing on three straight throws with 170-0, 170-10 and then the 174-7.
In his first outdoor meet wearing a Scarlet Knights uniform, Hunt moved into the No. 4 spot in school history.
After a year at Gloucester County College, Hunt competed indoors the last two years, focusing on the shot and weight throw, with PRs of 57-8 1/2 in the weight throw and 55-2 1/4 in the shot.
But the discus is his best event and he got to throw the plate Saturday for the first time since May 11, 2019, when he won the JUCO national title for Gloucester County College with a 145-3 throw at Mohawk Valley Community College in Utica, N.Y.
Hunt’s previous discus PR with the college/open implement was 165-0 from the Stockton Invitational in Galloway Township in April of 2019.
Hunt’s 174-7 puts him at No. 4 in Rutgers history, according to Rutgers’ on-line fact book. He trails James Plummer of Central Regional (205-11 in 2013), Sam Segond (199-8 in 2005) and John Mooers of Middle Township (185-2 in 2019).
At Collingswood, Hunt had PRs of 184-4 with the high school discus and 49-1 in the shot. He placed second in the 2017 Meet of Champions to Jordan West of Rahwah, who now throws for Tennessee and PR’d Thursday with a 177-1 at the Florida State Relays.
The high school discus weighs 1.6 kilograms, and the college and international disc weighs 2 kilograms.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 