Bishop Eustace junior Shawn Brady, who never threw the discus more than 141 feet until last month, popped a huge 166-6 throw Monday to win his first Olympic Conference title.
Brady moved into the No. 8 spot in the state and No. 4 in South Jersey and No. 2 among New jersey underclassmen, behind Bergen Catholic’s Ben Shue, who was 2nd at Franklin Field Nationals last year and is one of six 200-foot throwers in the U.S. so far this spring.
Last year, Brady had a PR of 140-9 from the Meet of Championsl, his last meet of the year. He blew that away with a 152-0 in his 2023 opener at the Don Danser Relays, then PR’d again with a 156-5 at South Jersey Elite and 158-9 at the Camden County Championships before his huge meet Monday.
He opened with a 145-3 before hitting the 166-6 on his second throw. He added throws of 153-5 and 144-2 and won by seven feet over Rancocas Valley senior Devon Brooks, who had two 159-2 throws.
Brady and Brooks are among four 165-foot throwers in South Jersey this year. Penns Grove senior Janier Armstrong had a 177-3 at the Woodbury Relays, Cinnaminson senior Malicah Etienne threw 174-7 at the Burlington County Open and Brooks threw 167-11 at the Deptford Spartan Relays. They’re ranked No. 4, 5, 7 and 8 in the state.
Brady’s throw is 3rd-best ever by a South Jersey non-public thrower, behind Franklin Simms of St. Augustine, who threw 191-11 at last year’s Meet of Champions, and Holy Spirit javelin national runner-up Cade Antonucci, who threw 169-1 at Woodbury in 2017.
He’s the top thrower this year in Parochial B, four feet ahead of Joshua Huisman of St. Rose of Belmar, who threw 162-5 in a meet last month at CBA in Lincroft.
Brady is the second Eustace thrower to win an Olympic Conference discus title. Montel Johnson won in 2017 at Washington Township with a 153-2 throw. Johnson went on to win the 2020 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference weight throw for Monmouth at the Armory and ranks 6th in Monmouth history with a 197-7 in the hammer throw.
Brady also won the shot put with a 49-10 1/2 on his final attempt. His previous PR was a 48-8 1/2 at the Camden County Championships earlier this month at Haddon Township.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 