Saving the best for last
AUSTIN, Texas — Jordan Geist truly did save the best for last.
The 2017 Knoch graduate and University of Arizona senior won the NCAA shot put championship Wednesday, his heave of 21.06 meters (69 feet, 1.25 inches) nosing out Arizona State’s Turner Washington by 0.02 of a meter. The title came on Geist’s sixth and final attempt of the competition at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
“Storybook ending, for sure, and a little bit of poetic justice,” Geist said. “Turner was my dorm roommate my freshman year at Arizona before he transferred to Arizona State. He’d beaten me a couple of times since then.
“To do this on my final throw of an event I’ve been doing since I was 8 years old, and to do this for my university, was pretty special.”
The national title was the first NCAA outdoor crown of Geist’s career. He won the indoor title with a heave of 69 feet, 4.75 inches in March.
Geist became the first Wildcat to win an outdoor track and field championship since Lawi Lalang won the 5,000 meters in 2014. No University of Arizona athlete had ever won the national shot put title.
Prior to this meet, Geist’s best-ever finish at NCAA Nationals was third.
“We were all praying,” said Judy Geist, Jordan’s mother and high school coach. “All I kept thinking was, ‘Come on, Jordan, dig deep ...’ and to watch him do it was so exciting. This was a long time coming for him.”
Just before that final throw, Geist said he had to “trust all of my preparation and training, that and the adrenaline push gave me my best throw of the meet.
“It wasn’t the best throw I’ve ever had, but it was good enough to get the job done.”
Geist also placed third in the hammer throw at nationals with a toss of 75.97 meters (249 feet, 3 inches). He had the lead in that event with one throw remaining before two competitors passed him.
“Since the year 2000, my first (hammer) throw would have been good enough to win the national title 17 times,” Geist said. “That’s how far the hammer has come in the NCAA. There’s a lot of great competition out there.”
While making the podium in the hammer throw, Geist broke the school record he entered the meet with twice. His hammer throw distance places 12th in NCAA history.
The championship effort capped off a monumental spring for Geist, who was inducted into the Pennsylvania High School Track and Field Hall of Fame during the PIAA Championships May 27 at Shippensburg University.
He’s completed master’s degrees in marketing and finance at Arizona and plans to pursue a spot on the U.S.Olympic team while working on becoming a strength and conditioning coach.
His next pursuit will be the USA Championshiops, scheduled in Eugene, Ore., in four weeks. If Geist finishes among the top three there, he will qualify for the world championships.
The Olympic Trials will take place in the summer of 2024.
“I’m looking to find an agent who can get me into some meets so I can see what the competition is like,” Geist said. “My main dream and goal now is to make the Olympic team. That’s what everrything is geared for right now.”
That’s fine with his mother.
“We’re looking forward to traveling around and following him wherever he goes,” Mrs. Geist said.
