The news about the athletic talents of Cedar Heights Junior High’s Nolan VanAmen seems to be spreading like a California wild fire in the midst of a hot summer. VanAmen was at Concordia University in Portland this past weekend and threw the discus at the Mac Wilkins’ Open Invite Throwers Meet and his performances this year (195 feet, eight inches in the the 1kg discus and 61 feet, seven inches in the 8-pound shot put) preceded him.
“I went down there with him and was pleasantly surprised when, not only kids around Nolan’s age, but even college-level throwers know who he is and what kind of throws he had this season,” said Cedar Heights track and field coach Eric Grieve.
VanAmen just threw the discus and winged it out to just over 184 feet, breaking an Oregon Track Club record for his age group (14).
” This record had stood for 30 years before being broke by a kid out of Union (High School, Vancouver) last year,” Grieve said. ” Nolan’s throw bested the record by around 12 feet. (His throw) just goes to show how truly special Nolan is right now.”
Most junior highs in the nation throw the 1.6kg discus and the 12-pound shot, so VanAmen’s top efforts during the Olympic League junior high season this year are not universally accepted, but they are the best marks in the country this year. The 12-pound shot put record this year was a 44-11.25 effort by Cody Hafley of Platte Valley in Colorado. Grieve has said VanAmen has thrown 45 feet with the 12-pound shot during practice sessions at South Kitsap High School. And he regularly has thrown the 1.6kg discus 130-plus feet at those same practices. Cody Whitmore of Asotin, Idaho had the beat mark in the nation this year at 139-01.
Two Central Kitsap Junior High athletes and one Fairview Junior High athlete ended up with efforts that led the country this track and field season. CK eighth-grader DeAndre Sincere led the nation with his 20 feet, five and half inches in the long jump and teammate Cameron Carroll, a ninth-grader, topped the country in two events, clocking a 1:59.21 in the 800 and a 4:30.01 in the 1600.
Fairview’s Jaleel Elmore, a ninth-grader, was injured early in the season and missed the rest of the track and field season. But his early run of 23.04 in the 200 stood up as the country’s best.
Sincere, by the way, had the third-best 100 time in the country at 11.34 (Kenyon Watson of Tecumsch, Ohio, led the country at 11.22) and the 5th-best time in the 200 (23.41).