By Gus Morris
Oregon discus thrower Ryan Hunter-Simms isn’t one for running. That’s part of why the 5’11 senior, who is built like a football lineman, sticks to throwing.
But Simms made a bit of an exception on Sunday when he took his victory lap around Hayward Field after he won the Pac-12 men’s discus title on his final throw.
“I never really enjoy it,” he said, chuckling in between breaths as he still puffed for air. “But I do it for the fans.”
That wasn’t all Simms did for the fans; he also put on a show in the first event of the day.
Heading into his final throw, Simms trailed only Arizona State’s Kyle Long, whose best throw was eight feet longer than Simms. But Simms saved his best for last. Simms threw 192-7, six inches better than Long’s throw, for a dramatic and emotional win.
“That was the only time I yelled all day,” Simms said.
It was also the first Pac-12 title of Simms’ career.
“I’ve been wanting a Pac-12 championship for four years, and it’s finally great to get it now,” Simms said.
Long threw 192-1 in the fourth round, a number that stood until Simms’ final attempt. After his throw, the competition heated up as Simms and Long dueled for the top spot.
Long said that he expected the battle that followed. “Looking at the leaderboards coming in, it was obvious who was gonna be ahead of the pack,” he said.
Simms and Long ended up combining for the six longest throws of the day, with five of them coming after the fourth round. But Simms had the last laugh. With the pressure on, he threw a 192-7 to win the event.
He said he knew when it left his hands, he had won it.
“It looked good,” he said. “I thought it was 60 meters. I was getting a little too pumped.”
Long had a different reaction. He could only watch as the win slipped through his fingers: “I figured it was going to be out there and you just sit there and bite your nails until the score comes on the board.”
Simms’ win in the event added 10 more points to the Ducks’ score, while Cullen Prena (fourth place) and Drake Brennan (sixth place) combined to add seven more points, bringing the Ducks’ points total to 17 for the event.
As far as the event went, Simms said it went about as well as it could have. But he did say there was one thing he would change: the distance of a victory lap.
“Just a nice 100 around the back stretch,” Simms said with a laugh. “That would be the perfect distance.”
