State track and field: Thomas' triumph highlights Day 1
GULF SHORES -- Walter Thomas knew the moment it left his hand: This was the throw.
He was right.
Fifty-eight feet and four inches from the point of his powerful release, a metal sphere fell from the air and dribbled onto a plane of pebbles and dirt. The heave wouldn’t be matched.
Thomas won his second straight Class 7A boys shot put title at the 4A-7A state outdoor track and field meet, held Thursday through Saturday at the Gulf Shores Sportsplex. The Vestavia Hills High School senior held off Auburn’s Erik Ebel, who upset Thomas at February’s state indoor meet.
Ebel threw 56-2.5 to Thomas’ 58-4, which represented a season-best mark.
“Whenever you lose something, it always makes you want to be better,” Thomas said. “You could say that gave me some motivation.”
Thursday’s victory capped a pristine outdoor season for Thomas, who lost only once -- to Ebel -- in his signature event. He won last week’s sectional and picked up marquee victories earlier in the season at the Mobile Challenge of Champions and Mountain Brook Invitational.
His throws traveled farther at nearly every meet. He peaked at state.
“All of that, I think, has gone into today,” said Vestavia head coach Brett Huber. “He knew what he had to do, he didn’t get nervous, and he met the challenge.”
Thomas set the 7A state-meet record last May with a heave of 59-0.5. Though he fell just short, Huber said that Thomas handled the pressure well. This was the closest Thomas has come to equaling that distance.
“I think he kept things in perspective today, because you can try to want something so bad it messes you up,” Huber said. “He knew his goal was to beat other people today -- to first be a state champion and, two, try to break his own record.”
Thomas will compete next year for the University of South Alabama. In April, he signed his letter of intent to join the Jaguar program.
A fresh start is on the horizon, but Thursday, he finished his Rebel career on top.
“It means the world,” Thomas said. “Honestly, nothing in my high school career, excluding football, has mattered more to me than the outdoor season for track and field.”
Thomas’ triumph highlighted a solid first day of competition for Vestavia Hills, which brought a contingent of 37 athletes down to the Coast. The Rebel boys rank fifth in the team standings after four scored events.
Vestavia Hills tallied 14 points. McGill-Toolen leads with 27.
Rebel junior James Sweeney placed sixth in the boys 1,600-meter run, earning three points for his team. He clocked a personal-best time of 4 minutes, 24.28 seconds. Sophomore Bryce Hutchinson finished 11th in 4:30.34.
Josh Smith contributed one point by claiming eighth place in the pole vault. He cleared the bar at 13-6.
The Vestavia girls have yet to dent the scoreboard, but that should change on Day Two. Katherine Ratliff enters the javelin competition seeded in the top five.
The Vestavia Voice is in Gulf Shores for this week's Class 4A-7A state meet to bring you up-to-the minute coverage of the Rebel track and field teams. For live updates, follow @sam5k on Twitter and visit vestaviavoice.com.