by Gregg Meadows
Tri-Valley junior track and field shot put talent Chris Gargasz really knows how to seize the moment, saving his best effort of the season for the last meet of the year, with a school record breaking heave of 56 feet, 10 and ¾ inches on Saturday, June 1 at the OHSAA State Meet at Dayton’s Welcome Stadium.
Gargasz’s titanic toss not only broke the existing TVHS Shot Put school record of 54’ 11” – set by Scottie Athletic Hall of Famer and All-Ohioan Collin Prouty in 2014 – but also earned him All-Ohio honors with his sixth-place finish and podium spot in the ultra-competitive Division I ‘Big School’ elite ranks.
With a scheduled three shot put throws in the prelims and three in the finals for the State Meet competitors, Gargasz wasted little time in establishing his presence among Ohio’s best. His second throw in the prelims left his right hand and landed 56 feet, 10 and ¾ inches away, smashing Prouty’s previous Scottie school record, and etching his own name in the TVHS Track and Field record books.
And when the dust had cleared and the OHSAA D-I Shot Put competition came to a close, Chris Gargasz stood on the sixth-place spot on the victor’s podium, with an All-Ohio medal hung around his neck.
Of his school record-breaking and All-Ohio earned toss, Gargasz knew immediately that he had popped a good one.
“Everything was perfect on my second throw in the prelims – my hands, my feet, my extension – it all felt good,” said the now, All-Ohioan in two sports at TVHS. The multi-talented junior earned First Team All-MVL and Honorable Mention D-III All-Ohio honors in football as a defensive lineman for the black-and-gold last season.
On breaking the school record of Prouty, Gargasz was most appreciative – and proud. “’I’ve known Collin for a few years; we’ve texted throughout this season, and he reached out to me and congratulated me on breaking his record and joining him in the All-Ohio ranks after my State Meet performance.”
Gargasz is in just his second season of competing in track and field as a shot put and discus thrower, (baseball was his first love growing up) but gets his shot put and gridiron talents honest, as his father, Ryan was a two-time shot put state champion in high school, played football for the University of Akron, and set an indoor record in the shot put for the Zips as well.
When asked what his favorite sport is – track and field or football – Gargasz’s answer cuts to the core of his competitiveness. “When it’s track season, it’s track – when it’s football season, it’s football,” states Gargasz. “That’s the same answer my Dad always gave,” laughs the soon-to-be senior at TVHS this fall.
Gargasz met his shot put pre-season goal almost to perfection, as he put a check mark beside his second straight Muskingum Valley League shot put title, which led to an eventual District title and Regional Meet runnerup spot. His goal, however, is to be a state champion in the shot put, and his upcoming senior year – in football and track and field – looks promising indeed.
Stay tuned…..
(For the record: Here’s a look at the top eight finishers – who earned All-Ohio honors – in the June 1, OHSAA State Track and Field Meet in the D-I Shot Put event at Dayton’s Welcome Stadium.)
• 1st Place: Dominic Brown, Fremont Ross, 62-6
• 2nd Place: Trevin Jordan, Copley, 62-1.25
• 3rd Place: Luke Hamilton, Avon, 58-11.10
• 4th Place: Antonio Heath, Brush, 58-6
• 5th Place: Akyus Richardson, Lima Shawnee, 58-4.75
• 6th Place: Chris Gargasz, Tri-Valley, 56-10.75
• 7th Place: David Lorek, Loveland, 56-10
• 8th Place: Max Riley, Avon Lake, 54-11.75
