Projo GameTime Blog

All-State hammer thrower Joe Velez of Classical High School fell just short in his bid to make the USATF World Junior Team that will compete in the World Junior Championships in July in Lille, France. The senior met four of the five criteria USATF officials used in selecting 40 boys and girls for the trip to Europe, but his distance was not quite up to international standards.

Velez finished second in the Youth Division (16-17 years old) at the national junior trials Tuesday in Myrtle Beach, S.C., with a throw of 213 feet, 3 inches, 9 feet and 1 inch farther than his winning throw in the state meet. But the the winning throw at the trials was 232 feet, top European juniors are throwing 270 feet, according to Classical coach Bobby Palazzo, and the sixth-place finisher at the 2009 world junior meet threw 220 feet. That 220 was the final criterion.

Nevertheless, Palazzo said, competing at Myrtle Beach with many of the best young throwers in the nation was a "terrific experience" for Velez.

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