GREENSBORO, N.C. — When Jordan Geist let go of the hammer, he had no idea if it was a good throw or not.

He hadn't thrown it enough to have a feel of what was good and what wasn't.

Even when it landed 72.38 meters — that's 238 feet, 9 inches — away at the New Balance Nationals Outdoor meet Saturday afternoon, he wasn't sure how exceptional it was.

“When all the hammer experts started oohing and ahhing,” Geist said, “I kind of knew it was pretty good.”

It was the first time Geist had thrown the hammer in a meet.

“I didn't know what a good throw felt like at all,” Geist said. “Even when I had that big throw, I didn't know how good it was, then the crowd went nuts, and then I went nuts.”

Geist won the national title in the hammer throw by more than 25 feet over Jacob Wickey, who threw 213.

Geist, a Knoch graduate and 17-year-old thrower from Cabot, has made a name for himself nationally — and internationally — in the shot put.

Sure, he did well in that event, too — he threw 76 feet to set a New Balance National Outdoors record.

His national-title throw was also the best effort in the nation this season and the third-best all-time.

But it was his hammer throw that created all the buzz in Greensboro over the weekend.

“It was very unexpected,” Geist said. “Going into the competition, I would have been happy with 200 feet or 210 feet and try to be an All-American. To enter the second flight of three leading by seven or eight feet was really unexpected, and I kept building until (I hit the 238 throw). I had no idea I was capable of doing that.”

Geist's mother, Judy, who is also his throwing coach, was just as surprised.

“He just uncorked one,” she said. “It was very exciting.”

He also finished second in the discus on Sunday to give him two national titles and a runner-up.

Not a bad weekend.

If Jordan Geist had one lament, it was he didn't reach the all-time national record of 81-3½ in the shot put set by Michael Carter in 1979.

“I had farther throws in warmups and one I fouled on,” Jordan said.

This coming weekend, the stakes are even higher for him at the USATF Junior Nationals in Clovis, Calif.

A top-two finish for Geist in the shot put will qualify him for the Pan American Games in Peru.

Geist will also have a chance to qualify for the Olympic Trials in London in the USATF Outdoor Nationals.

“It's about the biggest honor anyone can have in track and field,” he said.

He's thrown 72 feet with the heavier shot in practice. Geist figures if he can throw between 67 and 68 feet he can qualify for the Pan Am Games.

Of course, his goals are a little more lofty.

“I'm shooting for 70 feet,” Geist said. “I've thrown 72 so hopefully I can get a little more consistent. I don't care what I throw, actually, as long as I finish in the top two.”

He'll have to finish in the top three in the USATF Outdoor Nationals to get a shot at the Olympic Trials.

He'll be competing with the best of the best in that event, including defending gold medalist Ryan Crouser, who threw 73-10¾ in the Rio Games.

Geist is seeded seventh heading into the competition.

Former Olympic shot put thrower Reese Hoffa, who won the bronze in the 2012 London games, gave Geist some advice in Greensboro this weekend.

“He said the biggest advantage I have is that I don't know I'm supposed to be bad,” Geist said. “He said one guy made the Olympic team because he didn't know he wasn't supposed to make it. So, why not me? Why not get there a couple of years early?”