Wyomissing junior Jven Williams broke meet records in the discus and shot put to lead Wyomissing boys track and field team to a second-place finish at the Leonard Stephan Meet Saturday at Wilson. Wyomissing’s 87 total team points were only two points shy of Coatesville.
Williams threw a 60-10.5 in the shot put and a 177-5 in the discus to take home two golds.
“You just saw something you might never see again,” a jubilant Wyomissing throws coach Ty Smith said after watching Williams in the discus. “This is not a tiddlywinks type of sport and people get on me for being loud but that’s what I want. When I see 177, yeah, I’m going to be a lot more hype and I wish for everyone to feel that.”
Williams, a two-sport athlete who has committed to playing football at Penn State, is the defending District 3 Class 2A champion in shot put and the defending Berks champ in the discus.
On one of his discus throws, Williams threw close to 200 feet, according to Smith, but the throw was disqualified on account of Williams stepping out of the thrower’s circle following his release.
“After I threw it, the second hardest part of the throw comes where you keep it in balance with your feet in the circle,” Williams said. “My feet were a little bit tight so it made it harder for me to keep them inside a circle and they let loose. I work a lot on that throughout training so I’m a little disappointed that happened, but it is what it is.”
Despite the fault, Williams was able to maintain his focus to rebound for record-breaking throw on his third attempt.
“It’s just about relaxing; I’m like, ‘Laugh about it,’ ” Smith said when asked how he inspires his throwers in tight spots. “Don’t make it a pressure situation and the big thing I try to stress with them is don’t tell me about it, do it. I try not to use the word try because we all try, I want them to do something spectacular.”
Williams is no stranger to being spectacular as the 6-4, 310 pound junior drew one of the larger crowds of the day. However, Williams said he believes he performs best when he removes the expectations placed on him by others.
“It’s a little nerve wracking (throwing in front of larger crowds),” Williams said. “Keeping up with the expectations of the crowd makes it a little harder to deal with, but when I go off to the side on my own and just think to myself or step away and work on drills, I end up doing better.”
With two records to his name, Williams has no intentions of resting on his accomplishments and is focused on breaking more records.
“My goal is still to break the county record; that’s really my biggest goal,” Williams said. “It’s a personal challenge for me to break those records and I also want to bring home some hardware for my team. My expectation for the season is really just to win it all.”
In addition to Williams, Schuylkill Valley’s Luke Seymour also had a standout performance in winning the 800 and 1600. Seymour ran the 800 in 1:55.91 and the 1600 in 4:22.02 in what the senior said was just his third big race since breaking his leg during the cross country season.
“I was out for three-and-a-half months,” Seymour said. “So I’m definitely looking to get structurally stronger in my legs to drop my times down. The goal today was to go sub 4:20 and it was close but for the 800 my legs were feeling weak after the mile and I just wanted to go out there and win, so I’m okay with the 1:55.”
Seymour also expressed that the victory was sweeter after seeing the progress he’s made since breaking the leg.
“Yeah for sure,” Seymour said when asked if these victories felt more special. “Just knowing that my fitness is good enough to be able to run close to a 4:20 and then come back and do a 1:55 is pretty cool.”
Other notable performances from Berks athletes included Gov. Mifflin’s Jacob Engle winning the pole vault in 13-0 and Wilson’s Jonathon Tamayo taking the 300 hurdles in 39.35. Wilson also won the 1600 relay in 3:24.96 and 3200 relay in 8:14.38.
Other track winners: Jaden Brown of Norristown, who finished the 100 in 10.88; Darren Cammauf of Manheim Township, who finished the 200 in 22.69; Lebron Bessick of Coatesville, who finished the 400 in 47.71; Tyler Stevens of Manheim Township, who finished the 3200 in 9:46.07; Tyree Spence of Red Lion, who finished the 110 hurdles in 16.40; and Coatsville’s 400 relay team, which finished in 43.21.
Other field winners: Troy Johnson of McCasky, who won the long jump (22-3) and the triple jump (43-0); Jewleus Benner of McCasky, who won the high jump (6-3); and Matthew Remash of McCaskey, who won the javelin (67-4).
Source: Berkshire mont
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