At last year’s New Balance Nationals, Ohio’s Gabby Figueroa was the top-seeded weight-thrower in the country, but left The Armory with a moderately-disappointing third-place finish.
The senior from Austintown Fitch wasn’t about to let history repeat itself.
On her first throw in the finals, Figueroa unleashed the metal ball a distance of 62 feet, 1.75 inches to earn her first national title and the treasured ring that goes along with it. Senior Nyla Wood of Throw I Deep and Grady, Ga., was second with a distance of 60-0.5 (US #2). North Carolina’s Mahogany Brown of Philip O. Berry finished third with a heave of 59-9.5 (US #3).
“Yeah,” Figueroa said, “getting third last year when I was seeded first was definitely a motivator.”
Trailing Woods after the preliminaries, the LSU-bound thrower secured her title on her first toss of the finals. Figueroa opened up the competition with a toss of 58 feet in the prelims.
“That’s about where I wanted to open up,” she said. “It’s the throws that followed that didn’t really line up where I wanted to. I’m glad I got it down on the first throw. It was probably the hardest.”
Figueroa, a three-time indoor state champion in her specialty, credits her success to the time spends on her craft.
“I have been throwing the weight for three years and I don’t think there is anything that helps more than just getting time in the ring,” she said. “I think this season, my senior year, I have gotten the most reps I have ever had. I think that has matured me as an athlete.”
| F Weight Throw - Finals | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place | Overall | Athlete | Team | Result | Heat | |
| 1 | 1 | Figueroa, Gabby | Austintown Fitch | 62-01.75 | 1 | |
| 2 | 2 | Woods, Nyla | Grady | 60-00.50 | 1 | |
| 3 | 3 | Baker, Mohogany | Berry, Phillip O. | 59-09.50 | 1 | |
| 4 | 4 | Gaitan, Sabrina | Sprayberry High School | 56-08.75 | 1 | |
| 5 | 5 | Brinson, Kamryn | Marist | 56-00.50 | 1 | |
| 6 | 6 | Mistowski, Leia | Narragansett High School | 54-08.25 | 1 | |
| 7 | 7 | Cooper, Monae | New Rochelle | 53-09.25 | 1 | |
| 8 | 8 | Kuehlewind, McKenzie | Lancaster | 52-11.50 | 1 | |
| 9 | 9 | Vahoua, Andrea | Pope High School | 49-07.75 | 1 | |
| 10 | 10 | Ebert, Tori | Exeter-West Greenwich Regional High School | 48-02.50 | 1 | |
| 11 | 11 | Malloy, Meagan | Smithfield Senior High School | 47-09.25 | 1 | |
| 12 | 12 | Donadio, Bianca | Classical High School | 47-01.50 | 1 | |
| 13 | 14 | Russell, Lysah | Classical High School | 46-08.00 | 1 | |
| 14 | 15 | Borriello, Danielle | Ellenville | 46-02.00 | 1 | |
| 15 | 16 | Crockett, Tamia | Hardin Valley Academy | 45-05.75 | 1 | |
| 16 | 17 | Shippee, Jillian | Shenendehowa | 45-01.50 | 1 | |
| 17 | 18 | Mays, Mariah | Rome Free Academy (RFA) | 44-11.75 | 1 | |
| 18 | 19 | Jeffries, Zharia | Woodward Academy | 44-10.75 | 1 | |
| 19 | 20 | Thomas, Kelli | Luella High school | 44-08.75 | 1 | |
| 20 | 21 | Timpson, Carly | Narragansett High School | 43-07.25 | 1 | |
| 21 | 22 | Tevnan, Elizabeth | Notre Dame Academy-Hingham | 43-06.50 | 1 | |
| 22 | 23 | Spinner, Lundy | Shenendehowa | 43-06.50 | 1 | |
| 23 | 25 | Esmay, Jacqueline | La Salle Academy | 42-07.00 | 1 | |
| 24 | 26 | Jeffrey, Jessica | New Rochelle | 42-06.75 | 1 | |
| 25 | 27 | Swanson, Lauren | East Greenwich High School | 41-03.00 | 1 | |
| 26 | 28 | Yusuff, Oluwafun | Classical High School | 40-05.00 | 1 | |
| 27 | 29 | Cousens, Abby | Portsmouth High School | 39-11.50 | 1 | |
| 28 | 30 | Nalle, Cheyanne | Woonsocket High School | 39-02.25 | 1 | |
| 29 | 31 | Insingo, Kristina | Holy Trinity | 37-04.50 | 1 | |
