Geist sets more marks
BUTLER TWP — Was there any doubt that Jordan Geist would win the boys' shot put and discus in dominating fashion Friday at the Butler Track and Field Invitational?
There certainly shouldn't have been.
Knoch's star junior destroyed his own meet records in the events with first-place efforts of 69 feet, 7½ inches and 182-10, respectively.
But for a high school athlete who is now getting national attention, it is all about building momentum toward something even bigger.
“Right now I just want to keep up with my training,” he said. “I want to peak for states and the national meets I have coming up.”
Those would include the Penn Relays, where Geist will compete in the shot put next Friday. He won the event there last year with a heave of 67-1¼.
“The atmosphere at the Penn Relays is awesome,” he said. “It will be like a home meet for me. I'll have 30 members of my family there cheering me on.”
Geist didn't see much of his victory in Friday's discus, which was held after the sun went down.
“I couldn't see it (discus) once it left my hand,” he said. “It wasn't fun.
“But it's good to get competition in before the other events I have coming up. Every day, I get to train with one of the best throwers in the state in (teammate) Brennan McTighe.”
In sports like track and field, athletes are often competing against themselves as much as they are against others.
Mike Kolor is a perfect example.
Seneca Valley's senior turned in a 1,600-meter time of four minutes, 15.04 seconds. That effort was good enough for first place, but fell over four seconds short of his personal standard (4:10.9) in the event.
“It wasn't my best and I'm a little disappointed,” said Kolor. “The last lap was a bit taxing.”
“I am still happy to win here. This invite seems to get bigger and bigger every year and there's a lot of good competition. My goal is to be full-throttle late in the season.
Healthy competition often brings out the best in someone.
Dylan Hochbein finds his not only on his own team, but under the same roof.
Dylan and his twin brother, Brandon, both run the 300 hurdles for Freeport. They often finish 1-2 in the event, as was the case on Friday.
Dylan placed first with a time of 39.57 and Brandon was right behind him at 39.95. The former holds the school record of 39.1.
“Brandon doesn't take coming in second so bad,” Dylan said, “but I don't like it. If he beats me, I applaud him, but in my head, I can't get over it.”
The rivalry even extends into Freeport's practices.
“Our coach will tell us to only run so fast,” said Brandon, “but we'll both run faster just to beat the other. It's crazy.”
