By Michael Newman

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Lockport – John Meyer had been waiting for this moment where he went past 70-feet outdoors in the Shot Put. It just came 24 hours sooner than he expected.

Meyer improved on his Illinois All-Time best either indoors or outdoors in the Shot Put with a third round put of 70-6.50 at the Southwest Suburban Blue Division Meet Tuesday afternoon. It is also the best mark in the nation surpassing Tyson Jones of Desert Edge AZ who had a 70-6 mark in April. This is the second time that Meyer has surpassed 70-feet. The first was at his indoor conference meet on March 16. He is the first Illinois High School athlete to throw past 70-feet in that event.

Bolingbrook is the meet host with the main meet being held on Thursday. The throws could not be held at the Bolingbrook facility. It is just not big enough for a thrower like Meyer. It was decided to be moved to Lockport. The sectors were already lined from a meet that they had hosted from a meet the previous Friday. The meet was moved up 24 hours to Tuesday due to storms that were scheduled to hit the area. The change of the schedule did not bother Meyer.

“I was prepared for it,” Meyer said. “Yesterday, I just threw Shot working with the 5kg shot throwing near 70-feet. I called it quits there. I got a lot of rest last night. I felt good today.”

His first-round throw of 58-7 was a line-drive more like a rust buster warming up. Meyer’s second attempt was an improvement. He got the implement up in the air and drove it out to 66-8.5. As he approached the ring for the third time, you could sense something great was about to happen.

“In the third-round, I just focused on getting more height on it,” Meyer added. “I was just focusing on the throw not wanting to look at it afraid I would foul. It worked out pretty good. I was happy with that.”

Watch his record throw

Meyer had three good attempts after that record attempt with 66-0.5, 68-0.5, and 67-1.5.

“My last one felt really good,” Meyer said. “It just came off my index finger. I’ve been having issues with that. We are getting a new shot that will be coming tomorrow. The last one felt like it could have been a 72-foot throw.”

The Lockport senior will have over a week to get used to his new implement. His next competition will be at the Downers Grove North Sectional on May 18. A 72-foot throw is realistic considering his height on every attempt on Tuesday improved. The power off his release is there to get to that distance.

Meyer also won the Discus with a 184-10 throw in the fifth round. He had some good warmups throwing in the 190-foot range. His best throw in the first threw rounds was 175-3. After his third attempt, Meyer was visibly upset. Enter Lockport Coach Tom Razo.

“I don’t think about anything in the warmups. When I get into competition, all of these things start running through my mind like what if I scratch,” Meyer concluded. “All of that is mental to me with all of those messages running through my head. Coach Razo is the “horse-whisperer” for me. He relaxes me and to calm down and get the job done.”

He got the job done Tuesday with two great throws. He knows he still has work to do to accomplish what he wants to accomplish in a couple of weeks in Charleston.

Watch the full John Meyer Interview