Oregon’s Brittany Mann dominated in the women’s shot put with a 54 foot, 9 1/4 inches throw during the Oregon Track Relays, well over 6 1/2 feet farther than her closest competition – and just 1 foot, 3 3/4 inches shy of her personal best.
Concordia’s McKenzie Warren took second place with 48-8 3/4. Montana’s Samantha Hodgson followed in third with 44-8 1/4.
It was Mann’s first outdoor competition of the season, and she was excited about her first throw, but then it was time to “work on some technical things to try to figure out exactly what, where I needed to be,” she said.
Mann started the competition with a throw of 54-9 1/4, but as she continued her distances began to decline. “My first throw was a great throw, and the rest of the meet was just kind of playing around with things and building to get ready for the next meet.”
With her first outdoor meet of the season completed, Mann is looking to do better than she has in the past. “I was an All- American last year. So, I’m hoping – not hoping, working towards – that at least, if not better. The goal is to be better than I was last year, so this is farther now than I was at this point last year.”
— Katie Rosenblad
