Glassboro senior Damere Lassiter became the 11th member of the South Jersey 60-foot club Tuesday with a shot put win at the 88th annual Easterns.
Lassiter won the shot with a throw of 60-1 on his 6th and final attempt. With two throws to go, Lassiter was sitting in 8th place with a best throw of 53-0 ½. He moved into 6th with a 53-11 on his 5th attempt before finishing with his first 60-foot bomb.
The event was loaded with South Jersey throwers, with five of the top seven finishers coming from South Jersey schools.
Lassiter became Glassboro’s first Easterns champion in 59 years, since George Hartsfield won the 60-yard dash at Madison Square Garden in 1965 in what was then known as the National Interscholastic Championships.
Lassiter’s throw is No. 9 in South Jersey indoor history and No. 3 on the all-time Gloucester County list. His throw is best by a South Jersey Group 1 thrower since Harry Dilks of Pitman hit 60-3 in 1970 at the Philadelphia Department of Recreation meet at the Civic Center.
He’s only the 3rd 60-foot thrower in New Jersey this year. Senior Joshua Huisman of St. Rose has a 63-10 to his credit, and Delsea junior Jonathan Harris threw 60-0 ¼ at Cherokee earlier this month. According to the MileSplit database, Lassiter is No. 18 nationally.
Lassiter’s previous PR was a 58-3 at Ocean Breeze last month. His outdoor best is a 54-11 from Group 1 states last spring at Franklin.
Lassiter has a discus PR of 184-8 and is onloy the eighth weight man in South Jersey history to hit both 60 feet in the shot and 180 in the disc. The others are Ray Wilks of Bridgeton in 1995, Ron Dayne of Overbrook in 1996, Matt Huckabee of Timber Creek in 2010, Braheme Days Jr. of Bridgeton in 2013, Josh Awotunde of Delsea in 2013, Kamron Kobolak of Cinnaminson in 2018 and Jason Nwosu of Delsea in 2022.
Delsea’s Harris, already a member of the 60-foot club, placed 2nd with a 59-11 on his 3rd throw. He had a huge series, with four throws over 56 feet and two over 59 feet and a foul that was well beyond 60 feet. Harris averaged 57-4 ¾ on his five legal throws.
Delsea senior Greg Masso was 4th with a 54-3 throw, Egg Harbor senior Mike Simeon placed 6th with a 54-2 ½ and Absegami’s Gabriel Wilkins took 7th at 54-1 on his final throw. Delsea seniors Juan Romero and senior Tyler Habersham-Agbemenu also hit 50 feet, Romero with a 51-5 ½ and Habersham-Agbemenu 50-9 ¾. It was Romero’s first 50-footer indoors or outdoors.
South Jersey now has 14 50-foot throwers this winter, four from Delsea.
All-time South Jersey Indoor 60-Foot Club
70-8 … Braheme Days Jr. [Bridgeton], 2012
63-11 … Ray Wilks [Bridgeton], 1995
63-1 ¾ … Nick Pulli [West Deptford], 2014
62-7 ¾ … Kamron Kobolak [Cinnaminson], 2018
62-0 ½ … Jason Nwosu [Delsea], 2022
61-9 … Lou Gordon [Bridgeton], 1995
60-3 … Harry Dilks [Pitman], 1971
60-10 ¾ … John Purvis [Winslow Twp.], 2020
60-1 … Damere Lassiter [Glassboro], 2024
60-0 ½ … Ell Ash [Willingboro], 2004
60-0 ¼ … Jonathan Harris [Delsea], 2024
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 