By John Raffel
Kyle Smith had another fun state meet for the Breckenridge Huskies. The standout thrower ended the day as a state champion and as a runner-up in Division 4.
Smith, a senior, who will be throwing at Saginaw Valley State University, threw the discus 149’0″ to finish well ahead of second-place thrower Chris Carver of Sand Creek (140’8″).
Smith took second in the shot put (51’8″) at the state meet, behind Cole Vanoosten of Kalamazoo Christian, who won the event with a put of 54’6″.
“I think I did pretty well, with how bad the weather was,” Smith said, referring to the rain that drizzled on the field for most of the day. “I couldn’t ask for anything more. I wished we had better weather.”
Smith had won the shot put in all of his meets this season prior to the state meet. His best throw was 51’11” in the regional. Prior to that, his previous best throw of the year was 51’6½” at the Clare Invitational in April.
He was first all season in the discus except for seconds at the Ithaca Blue and Gold meet and at the Clare Invitational. Smith’s best throw all season was 164’6″ at a TVC meet on April 29.
“If someone ahead of time would have told me I’d take first and second [at state], I don’t know what I would say, other than that it’s a goal,” Smith said. “I knew I could do it.”
In the 2014 state finals, Smith threw the shot 49’4″ for fifth place.