Back finishes 19th

BLOOMINGTON — Tyler Back wasn’t able to reach the distances he was hoping for. He still shot up the leader board.
The Jay County High School junior, who was seeded last out of 27 competitors, jumped into the top 20 Saturday as he finished 19th in the shot put at the IHSAA Boys Track and Field State Finals at Indiana University.
“He didn’t get (his career-best), but there’s a lot of other guys here who didn’t throw their best either,” said JCHS coach Greg Garringer. “He moved up the ladder. He went from being the last seed and got into the top 20.
“We’re going to look at it as a positive, because he wasn’t even supposed to be here. We’re happy. This is a good thing for Jay County. We’re very proud of Tyler.”
The first athlete to compete, Back got off to a solid start with a toss of 49 feet, 10¾ inches. That mark was the best on the board until the eighth competitor in the flight, Avon’s Chase Alexander, sent his opening throw 50 feet, ½ inches.
Back stayed consistent in the preliminaries, but was unable to reach the distances that won him the Muncie Central sectional title and earned him a state berth with a third-place finish at the Ben Davis regional. His second toss went 49 feet, 4 inches, and the third was just a bit shorter at 49 feet, ¾ inches.
“I thought he did pretty well,” said JCHS throwing coach Josh Swift. “He had consistency and he competed with the guys in his flight.
“He had nothing to lose, everything to gain. Hopefully he gains experience and he comes in next year ready to go.”
Back finished fourth in his flight, trailing Castle’s Nate Bell, Terre Haute North’s Larry Davis and Alexander. Five athletes in the second flight surpassed him on their first throw, and he was still in contention for a spot in the finals as he sat 10th with one flight remaining.
However, the first athlete in the final flight, Timothy Colbert of Ben Davis, surpassed Back’s mark to officially bump him out of medal contention. Each of the other eight athletes in the top flight did so as well, moving the JCHS junior to his 19th-place finish.
“I was seeded last, so I moved up eight spots,” said Back. “I’m happy with that.”
Back finished 1 inch ahead of 20th-place Anthony Palm of Merrillville and 7¾ inches behind 18th-place Alexander. Thirteen of the 18 athletes who finished in front of Back were seniors.
Carmel’s Langston Newton, who entered as the No. 1 seed, took the state title at 61 feet, 2 inches. Each of the top seven athletes cleared the 55-foot mark, and Greenfield-Central’s Tyler Beeson earned the ninth and final state medal at 54 feet, 6½ inches.
Back said he learned a lot from being at the state finals, most notably “that I have to come prepared, because these guys aren’t messing around.
“I can’t wait til next season,” he added.
It was a breakout tournament series for the junior, who did not compete for the track team during his freshman year.
Back, who was the sectional runner-up as a sophomore, had never surpassed the 50-foot mark in competition until winning the sectional title at 50 feet, 1 inch, on May 17. He improved again a week later to take third in the regional meet at 51 feet, 5½ inches.
Having made such strides this season — his top sectional throw in 2011 came in at 46 feet, 4¾ inches — the coaches are already looking forward to what Back can accomplish as a senior.
“With him performing like he did this year, there’s no doubt in my mind now (that he can medal),” said Garringer. “I can tell he’s not going to be satisfied unless he’s coming right out and throwing 50-plus next year. Knowing that … and the kind of kid he is and his work ethic we knew there are going to be some great things.”[[In-content Ad]]