In the Circle: Mid-Season Report

Here's the second "In the Circle" update by DtB throws maven (and recent jury duty graduate) Kevin Holubar. You can also follow the throwing events on Kevin's blog Throwing Farther, HERE.

Mid-Season Indoor Highlights
By Kevin Holubar

Since the last "In the Circle" update we have seen some great performances out of some of Minnesota's finest throwers. Here are some of the highlights ...

Gophers women may not be large in numbers but senior Kari Schmidt and sophomore Hannah Studt are making up for it with some great performances. Kari Schmidt has been a model of consistency in shot put with a season best mark coming at the Minnesota Open on January 17th with a mark of 48-9. That mark currently ranks her 4th in the Big Ten. Sophomore Hannah Studt, sister-in-law of Gopher standout Aaron Studt, has been backing up her title as 2007 Wisconsin Gatorade Athlete of the Year. Her mark of 55-4 1/4 in the weight throw, also at the Minnesota Open, has moved her up to 6th all-time at Minnesota.

Men's coach Lynden Reder says his squad is starting to turn the corner, as evidenced by some great marks at the Nebraska Adidas Invitation in Lincoln, Nebraska on January 31st. Junior Aaron Studt emerged from the weekend with 2 victories and a new personal best. Studt improved his personal best and his provisional qualifying mark in the weight throw to 66-1. Senior Andy Bastain chimed in with a long awaited PR in the weight throw at 63-6 and Trey Davis broke Aaron Studt's freshmen record in the weight throw with a mark of 60-1.

Studt and Bastain currently rank 2nd and 4th in the Big Ten. The men also finished 1-2-3 in the shot put with Studt again leading the way at 56-11 1/2. Trey Davis and freshmen Tyler Kleinhuizen had big PR's coming in at 56-9 1/2 and 56-0.

Davis and Kleinhuizen have a long competitive history that dates back to their junior years in high school when the Forrest Lake (Kleinhuizen) and Farmington (Davis) alumni battled over two state titles with each laying claim to one.

Redshirting freshmen Micah Hegerle has continued to show improvement in the weight throw over the indoor season. His mark of 57-5 last weekend at Bethel was almost a 6 foot improvement on the season. Studt, Davis, and Kleinhuizen currently rank 5th, 6th, and 9th in the Big Ten.

Also ... Iowa State freshmen LaiShima Hampton (St. Louis Park) marked a huge personal best and got the win at the ISU Open with a throw of 56-3.

University of Minnesota - Duluth Senior Tom Soldner (Cold Spring) broke his brother's school record in the weight throw with a Division II provisional mark of 57-3 1/2 .