Glassboro junior Damere Lassiter uncorked the No. 1 shot put by a South Jersey thrower this winter Friday at the U.S. Marine Corps Holiday Classic at the Armory.
Lassiter won the event with an indoor PR 54-3 ¾ on his final throw.
Lassiter entered the competition with an indoor PR of 51-5 ½ from one of the Cherokee Throwdown meets last January. He blew that away three times, with a 54-0 ¼ on his 2nd attempt, a 52-1 ½ on his 4th throw and finally the 54-3 ¾ on his final attempt.
Senior Nathan West of CBA Albany placed 2nd with a 53-5 ½ and Willingboro junior Julian Williams popped a PR 50-6 ½ on his 4th throw to take 3rd place. He had PR’d with a 50-4 two weeks ago at another Armory meet.
Lassiter’s throw is a Glassboro school record and the best indoor throw by a South Jersey Group 1 thrower in 18 years, since Pennsville’s John Clark threw 54-8 at the 2006 Meet of Champions at Princeton’s Jadwin Gym.
Lassiter bumped Delsea junior Jonathan Harris for the No. 1 throw by a South Jersey athlete this winter. Harris threw 54-2 ½ at Ocean Breeze last week. Lassiter’s throw looks like No. 3 in the state this year, although the MileSplit rankings have been a mess all year.
Lassiter set his outdoor PR of 54-11 in June when he placed 2nd at the state Group 1 meet at Frankin High School.
In the discus, Lassiter threw 184-8 at South Jersey Group 1 sectionals last spring at Pennsauken. He was the No. 5 sophomore nationally in the discus.
All-Time Gloucester County Indoor 54-Foot List
63-1 ¾ … Nick Pulli [West Deptford], 2014
62-0 ½ … Jason Nwosu [Delsea], 2022
60-3 … Harry Dilks [Pitman], 1971
58-9 … Greg Ross [Deptford], 1976
58-8 ¾ … Bill Goldsborough [Delsea], 2018
57-11 … Kwabena Keene [Washington Twp], 2008
57-9 ½ … Rich Lewis [Williamstown], 1985
57-8 1/4 … Josh Awotunde [Delsea], 2013
57-5 … Joe Metzger [Delsea], 2021
56-5 ¼ … Chris Pressley [Woodbury], 2003
55-4 ¾ … Ryan Knight [Delsea], 1996
54-8 … Greg Masso [Delsea], 2023
54-6 ½ … Josh Caudill [Delsea], 2022
54-4 ¾ … Sam Shinn [Kingsway], 2016
54-3 ¼ … Damere Lassiter [Glassboro], 2024
54-2 ½ … Jonathan Harris [Delsea], 2023
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 