San Antonio Shot Put - A 2024 Preview

After looking at the San Antonio discus throwers on Tuesday it is time to look at the shot putters today. Many of the names overlap from the two articles, but in many cases the names get reshuffled with very few athletes heading into the season as the best in both throwing events. Let's take a peak.

6A Boys

Heading into the season there is no dominant 6A boy shot putter like there has been the last few years in former East Central thrower Michael Pinones. In fact, there is only one local returner who competed in the Regional meet and that is O'Connor's Briley Brown who is also the only thrower in 6A with a toss of over 50-feet.

There are six others who have thrown at least 47-feet including Reagan's Hector Ucha and Steele's Abdon Mata who have each thrown over 48-feet. Mata is also the top returning discus thrower. Mata and Lionel Scott of Johnson are the only two 6A throwers who have top marks of over 47' in the shot put and 150' in the discus. A final returner to remember is Reagan's Caedmon Garcia who tossed the shot 44-1 as a freshman.

6A Girls

Cyani Ingram of Madison and Carolina Vargas of Stevens are the lone local returners from last year's 6A Regional meet even though they do not have the best marks. Ingram, a freshman last year, started the season barely cracking 30-feet but by the end of the season she threw 38-1.75 at the Area meet and then 37-3.25 at the Regional meet. Vargas had a top throw of 31-9.75 heading into championship season and then threw 35-5 at the Area meet to qualify for Regionals.

Alyssa Goodman of Steele was credited with a throw of 42-6 at the Steele Relays but never threw over 36-feet the rest of the season. Harlan's Alexis Owens was an Area champion with her throw of 39-2 but did not compete at Regionals. Chyann Betts of San Marcos and Mariana Salazar of Reagan each threw over 38-feet last year and could be in line for an excellent season this year.

5A Boys

As usual Boerne Champion is loaded with a deep group of quality shot putters. Riley Wampler should be one of the top 5A guys in the entire Region after throwing 51-1.75 last year. His teammates, Nico Lopez, Aiden Harris and Noah Blomqvist each threw between 44-7.75 and 45-4. Blomqvist was the top freshman in the Area last year.

While Champion has the best overall group of shot putters, the top returner is Smithson Valley's Gavin Garcia. Garcia threw 51-7.25 and finished eighth in the Region. Pieper's Landon Ashpaugh and Wagner's John Rector are two others who threw over 46-feet last year while Trey Harden of Highlands and Ignacio Ceja of Harlandale should each be considered District favorites.

5A Girls

It is hard to choose who is the top returning 5A girls shot putter this year. Boerne Champion's Hailee Goodwin has the best mark, 35-9.5 while Siara Hardeman (Highlands) and Aaliyah Mancha (McCollum) are the lone returning Regional qualifiers. Canyon's Sala Nuu might be the correct answer after throwing 35-0.75 at her only meet of the year, the District 26-5A junior varsity championships.

There are a total of eight girls who threw at least 33-feet last year. Mancha, Nuu and Champion's Lorena Berreiro-Bidot all accomplished the feat as freshmen and could be in line for great things this year. Hardeman and her sister, Senya, give Highlands a strong 1-2 punch for District 27-5A.

4A Boys

It is hard to believe that there are no local returners from last year's Regional meet, but it was all seniors who qualified from area high schools. One person who did not compete at Regionals but should be a potential State qualifier this year is Boerne's Logan Schramm. Schramm was a District champion with his throw of 51-1.75 but did not throw at the Area meet. Uvalde's William Aaron Graves is another one who could challenge for a berth in the State meet. He threw 47-3 last year and finished fifth at the Area 29-30 meet.

Devine's Karter Brown is the best of the rest of a quality 4A group this year. He threw 44-7.5 while four others threw at least 43-feet, two from La Vernia (Lucas Campbell, Konnor Berry) and two from Wimberley (Caden Romo, Jackson LaBouliere).

4A Girls

With Boerne's Tori Adams graduating last year, there is a large opening at the top of the 4A girls which should lead to some great competition. Fredericksburg's Madison Wright and Reese Sagebiel have both throw around 37-feet while Savannah Parker of Devine has thrown 35-8. However, Parker finished ahead of Sagebiel at the Regional meet and it is likely that the trio will be fighting for one if not both of the State qualifying spots this year.

Boerne and Fredericksburg each has three returners who have thrown over 31-feet meaning the District 27-4A championships will be one to watch. Boerne's Avery Aaron reached 33-7.25 at last year's meet and only finished in fifth place. She slots in as the overall fourth returner but will be pushed to get out of the District meet again with Katherine Pehl (Fredericksburg), Isabelle Di Merry (Davenport) and Mickena Randle (Boerne) all pushing her for a qualifying spot.

3A Boys

Aiden Reed of Poth is the top returning discus thrower and shot putter in the area. He was the top overall 3A boy last year finishing seventh at the Regional meet and he had a season best toss of 47-1.5. The person who should supply the biggest challenge is Lytle's William Davalos who also competed at the Regional meet. He has a top throw of 42-6.5 and is the only other thrower with a mark over 40-feet.

After the top two returners, Cole features a trio of boys who could be district title contenders: Kenny Atunrase, Chase Howell and Aaron Walters. Lytle also has three returners over 38-feet including Davalos, Nate Miller and Mario Diaz. Michael Purcell of Marion and Reed are the only two returners among the top five in both throwing events.

3A Girls

Dilley's Dakota San Miguel is at the top of the list in both the discus and shot put. She had a season best of 35-9.75 but did finish behind Elizabeth Bracamonte of Randolph at the Region meet. Bracamonte was the District 26-3A champion last year and threw over 34-feet in her final four meets of the year.

Overall, there are only four returners who eclipsed 30-feet last year. In addition to San Miguel and Bracamonte, Rose Scotello of Lytle and Amelia Lyssy of Poth each threw over 32-feet. Scotello is a sophomore and should push for the top spot locally while Lyssy is a junior and will be trying to get to the Regionals for the first time in her career.

Other Boys

I am combining private schools, smaller public schools and homeschool athletes into one group. Michael Estrada (SA Patriots) and Cannen Kyle (New Braunfels Christian Academy) are a notch ahead of the rest of the throwers in this group. Estrada was the Homeschool State champion in both the discus and shot put last year. He threw 53-6 at the State meet and then went 53-4 at the TTFCA Meet of Champions. Cannen dominated the TAPPS 3A State meet with his winning throw of 53-0, nearly five feet ahead of second place and was the second best throw among all TAPPS athletes at the State meet.

After the two State champs, there are two other returning State medalists in the group. San Antonio Christian's Aaron Moore took the bronze medal in 5A with a throw of 48-11 while Josue Lerma of Holy Cross finished as the runner-up in 4A with a heave of 47-3.25. Antonian's Marcus Miller is the only other thrower with a top mark of over 47-feet while Central Catholic's Nicholas Hughes finished fifth in 6A.

Other Girls

The top three could potentially be the top three in all of San Antonio regardless of school size. Sophia Grinstead (Bracken Christian), Cayla Albers (Falls City) and Emily Easton (Cornerstone) all attend small schools but can compete with anyone. Grinstead threw over 40-feet at four different meets capped by a TAPPS 2A State title. Albers won the UIL 2A shot put title on her final throw and has a best of 40-3. Easton had a great season and nearly reached 40-feet but had to settle for a top mark of 39-11.

Laura Sierra of St. Anthony's and Ava Welch of San Antonio Christian were each TAPPS 5A finalists with Sierra taking the silver medal with a throw of 37-8. Welch and Incarnate Word's Mikayla Ramos each have top marks of over 35-feet.