BOYS TRACK
By: Tim Falls
Hopewell Valley Central High School senior Paul Wagner will be happy when he is upset about throwing 52 feet in the shot put.
Wagner threw 52-8.75 to win the shot put at the Mercer County track championships at Steinert last Saturday.
Wagner has been happy with the way he has been improving consistently and can judge his progress by how much the lowest of his scores had gone up.
"When my bad throws get better I can tell I’m doing well," said Wagner. "When I’m upset about throwing a 160 (in the discus) when a week ago I’d have been happy with that."
Wagner wants to reach a level where a 52-8.75 will be a bad throw and a good throw goes much farther.
Wagner finished second in the discus with a throw of 162-9, while Hamilton’s Will Hendrix finished first in 168-8.
The Hopewell Valley senior, who will attend East Stroudsburg University next year, was the only thrower to break 50 feet in the shot put at the Mercer County Championships.
"I didn’t put pressure on myself," said Wagner. "I was all over 50 feet. I was consistent. I’m ready for states to come and pop a long one."
While his competition might have considered Wagner’s winning throw to be rather long, the Bulldog is eyeing bigger numbers.
"When I’m consistent I know the big ones are going to come,’ said Wagner.
West Windsor-Plainsboro South’s Drew Lachenmayer finished second in the shot put with a throw of 49-9.25. The Pirates won the championship with 113 points, while Hopewell Valley finished sixth with 24.2 points.
Hendrix finished third in the shot put with a throw of 48-10, Nottingham’s Richie Cunningham placed fourth with a 45-7.75, Hamilton’s Marcus Ponder placed fifth with a 45-1 and Nottingham’s Wayne Thomas came in sixth with a 44-.75.
"I was thrilled to get 10 points for the team (for winning the shot put)," said Wagner. "When you see everybody else do well it makes you want to do well too."
Wagner won the shot put and the discus as a junior.
Wagner improved by three feet to win the shot put with a 51-8.25 throw, his personal best at the time.
"Every year I see myself improving," said Wagner.
Hopewell Valley finished third in team scoring last year with Notre Dame taking first-place and Trenton claiming second.
This season the Bulldogs placed sixth with Wagner’s first- and second-place finishes.
Matt Hilderbrandt finished fourth in the 1,600 in 4:32.39 for the Bulldogs.
Hopewell Valley’s Nicholas Jourjine came in fifth in the 3,200 in 10:17.15 and Matthew Fishman tied for sixth in the pole vault after clearing, 11-0.