Crouser, Kovacs and Hill Back In Competition Together For The First Time Since Doha

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

Many of the best throwers in the United States, and also the high jumpers, will be competing Saturday in Tucson, Ariz., at the USATF Throws Festival. 

The meet provides a rare opportunity to compete in a national championship-level field and tune up for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, June 18-27 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.

None of the fields are as stacked as the men's shot put, where reigning world champion Joe Kovacs, reigning Olympic champion Ryan Crouser and world fifth-place finisher Darrell Hill will compete together for the first time since the historic 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar.

Crouser, Kovacs and Hill -- in that order -- are the top three ranked throwers in the world. 

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The U.S. is also making noise globally in the hammer. Rudy Winkler is ranked No. 1 in the world, Daniel Haugh is No. 3 and Sean Donnelly is No. 4. 

All three are on the entry list, along with 2019 USATF Outdoor champion Conor McCullough and 2018 NCAA champion Denzel Comenentia, who competes internationally for The Netherlands. 

World champion and American record holder DeAnna Price leads a standout field in the women's hammer. Price has the top mark in the world so far this year, with her record-setting throw of 78.60m (257-10) on April 9. 

Price will face Brooke Andersen, who is ranked No. 2 in the world and beat Price at the USATF Grand Prix at Hayward Field. Pan Am Games champion Gwen Berry is currently No. 4 in the world.

In the men's discus, Alex Rose of Samoa, ranked No. 3 in the world, will compete against a field that includes American Mason Finley, who is ranked fourth. 

All nine throwers who competed at the USATF Golden Games at Mt. SAC, which was won by Kord Ferguson, are entered this weekend.

American record holder Valarie Allman is absent from the women's discus list, but U.S.-based throwers Shadae Lawrence (Jamaica), Chioma Onyekwere (Nigeria) and Jorinde van Klinken (The Netherlands/Arizona State) are among the top 30 in the world, and so are Americans Rachel Dincoff and Kelsey Card.

Maggie Malone, who threw a career-best 205-8 (62.70m) on Tuesday at the USATF Open at AP Ranch in Texas, is back in action to take on two of the four women ranked ahead of her on the all-time U.S. list -- Kara Winger and Ariana Ince. 

For Winger, the American record holder, it'll be her first competition since Aug. 1 of 2020 after rehabilitating following surgery to repair a torn ACL. 

Michael Shuey, Riley Dolezal and Curtis Thompson are the top three U.S. men in the javelin this year and lead a field looking for Olympic Trials qualifying standards. Only eight men have so far met the automatic Trials standard of 75 meters. 

The women's shot put includes Michelle Carter, the reigning Olympic champion. Jessica Ramsey, who is ranked third in the U.S. so far this year, and Jessica Woodard, who is ranked ninth, have both thrown past the 60-foot line this year.

Randall Cunningham Jr. is set to compete in the high jump for the first time in three years, adding some intrigue to the men's event. Cunningham, who competed for USC and won two NCAA titles, fractured his tibia in 2018. He'll face some of the top American jumpers in Jeron Robinson, Shelby McEwen and Trey Culver. 

His younger sister, Vashti  Cunningham, already a nine-time U.S. champion at age 23, leads the women's entries. It will be her second competition outdoors in 2021.