State record in hammer for Flanary!

Great news today from Ryan Flanary, whose daughter Shana shattered the state record in the hammer throw. The old best was 131-10 by Alana Robinson of Grosse Ile, who went on to a successful collegiate career at South Carolina. On Saturday, Shana, just a sophomore at Carleton Airport HS, added more than 10 feet to the record by throwing 142-4 at the USATF JO Regional in Ohio.

I love it, because I think we need to start working harder to expose Michigan high schoolers to the full range of events available to them in college. It's foolish to think the MHSAA is going to add the hammer, the steeplechase, the decathlon, the triple jump, or the javelin any time soon. However, I would love to see more post-season opportunities in the state for athletes to try these events. Usually, events like the hammer and javelin see athletes thrive who may not have been great in the shot and discus. I think there are many Michigan athletes out there who would try college competition if they had a chance to dabble in these events and find out where their talents lay.

It's called exposing kids to opportunity, and we should all be for it. If anyone wants to host clinics or competitions in these events, you can count on me to help publicize them.