Geist delivers big throw with 16-pound ball: 68-4

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

Bigger and stronger than ever, Knoch PA senior Jordan Geist has gotten his indoor season started with a national high school record. 

Five days after opening with 71 feet, 4 inches in the 12-pound shot put at the Dickinson College High School Invitational, Geist smashed Ryan Crouser's high school record with the international 16-pound shot.

Geist threw a whopper – 68-4 – at the Hempfield Spartans meet in Greensburg, Pa. RESULTS

That's more than four feet farther than the 63-11 that Crouser produced in 2011. And it's also No. 3 on the world junior (U-20) all-time list, second among Americans.

How significant is 68-4? It would have placed second at the 2016 NCAA Division I indoor championships – behind only Crouser, who went on to win the Olympic gold medal in Rio de Janiero. 

The mark would also have placed fifth at the U.S. Olympic Trials. 

And, it exceeds the 16-pound all-time outdoor high school record of 67-9 by legend Michael Carter (1979). Carter's outdoor 12-pound record of 81-3 has frequently been called one of the most unassailable marks on the books. 

Fellow seniors Adrian Piperi of The Woodlands TX and Bronson Osborn of Esperanza CA are part of an exciting 2017 class of shot-putters. Geist, Piperi and Osborn were the top three prep throwers in the country last spring and their competition at New Balance Nationals Outdoor was one of the best ever.