“I really wanted to be a multiple-sport athlete all through my high school career, just to have fun,” Meyer said. Though Meyer had experimented with the spin move as early as the summer before eighth grade, he didn’t make the switch because his winters were devoted to basketball rather than indoor track. Until then, he’d been more successful in the discus since starting the throws as a sixth-grader. Meyer’s breakout moment in the shot came two years ago, when he switched from the glide to the spin move. “This year, he’s had 11 meets (of 13 total) over the previous state record,” Shields said. What impresses Lockport throws coach Wally Shields even more than Meyer’s records is his consistency. His national outdoor best came at the conference meet earlier this month and is well past the state-meet record of 66-5 3/4 set by Lake Park’s Jermaine Kline in 2011. That’s a big number, considering no Illinois shot putter had reached 70 feet until Meyer went 70-4 1/4 at the SouthWest Suburban Conference Indoor Meet in February. “My main goal is to blow up the shot put,” Meyer said. The Michigan recruit has high hopes for a big finish at his final prep meet. He is the two-time defending champ in the former event and was runner-up in the latter last spring. at 70 feet, 6 1/4 inches, according to the database.īesides being the top state qualifier in that event by almost 7 feet with a 68-1 sectional result, Meyer advanced in the discus with the third-best sectional throw (181 feet). Heading into this weekend’s Class 3A state finals at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Meyer is ranked No. That combination of size, work ethic and a technique tweak two years ago has moved Meyer to the top of the list of high school shot putters in the nation. There’s also the physical edge that comes from being 6-foot-5 and 310 pounds. That’s one thing that sets Meyer apart from other high school shot put throwers.
(But) optional days I wouldn’t be doing anything (else) anyway.” “I would even go if I had a little bit of sniffles, (thinking), ‘Get over it, you’re not going to die.’ “I never missed a practice,” the Lockport senior said. John Meyer never felt that missing optional workouts was an option.
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