Track roundup
James Parker placed first in both the 35-pound weight throw and the shot put this past Friday at the Wilson Motor Invitation, Utah State’s only home indoor track meet of the season.
Parker, a senior and six-time All-American, was competing in his first meet of the season after missing the first indoor meet. Parker said there were some advantages to having the first meet at home.
“I like having it at home because you get a lot of your own folks and a lot of people you know coming out to watch, and you feel like you want to do some good with people watching you,” Parker said. “This is a good place to open up; it’s comfortable here. It’s not my favorite place to throw, but it’s fun.”
Parker performed well in both events he competed in. In the 35-pound weight throw he won with a throw of 68.70 meters. The throw easily beat the second-place throw of 50.60 meters by Rick Cook of Weber State University.
In the shot put, Parker also out-threw the competition with a throw of 58 feet, 9 inches. The next best throw in this event was 52 feet, 2 inches by Juan Columbie of Long Beach State.
“I feel like I threw fairly well in both events starting out,” Parker said.
“I think that my marks are good for starting,” Parker said. “They’re not the best, but they’re good ones to better.”
Every indoor and outdoor track season since he has been at USU, Parker has gone to Nationals. He hopes to make it again this year.
“I want to go to the National Championships and do well again,” he said. “I’ve never done better than seventh indoors so I want to do better than that. I also want to go to the National Championships in the shot put, which I never have before.”
A throw of 61 or 62 feet will probably be necessary to qualify for Nationals in the shot put, Parker said. He said he will probably qualify for nationals with his throw Friday.