In just his second outing of the spring, Gresham (Ore.) senior Sam Crouser overcame a 55-degree temperature and strong winds to set a national record by throwing the javelin 244 feet, 2 inches on Saturday at the 46th Centennial Invitational in Gresham. 
Sam Crouser
Photo courtesy of Dean Crouser
The record, which had stood since 1988, was 241-11 by Tommi Viskari of Amsterdam, N.Y.
The 6-foot-5 1/2, 240-pounder, who has signed with the University of Oregon, had thrown 238 feet uphill on a cold, windy day during his first meet. His career best had been 239 feet as a junior.
"You could kind of see it coming," according to his throws coach, Gary Stautz. "He was happy about the distance, but wasn’t pleased by his steps and flight of the javelin."
Sam’s cousin, 6-7 Ryan Crouser, a junior at Gresham Barlow, won the shot put with a state-record heave of 69-8¾. He had not competed in a month due to a groin injury. Ryan finished second to Sam’s 203-9 effort in the discus.
Continuing the family tradition, Sam’s freshman sister, Haley, won the girls javelin with a throw of 151-04.
* Kayla Parker finished her high school career at Port St. Joseph (Fla.) by winning state titles in the 100-meter dash (12.23 seconds), 200-meter dash (25.13), 100-meter hurdles (14.27) and long jump (19-5.5). Her brilliant efforts paced the Tiger Sharks to the Class 1A state championship. The 5-10 University of Kentucky recruit, who also was a four-year basketball starter at point guard, won 12 state championships during her brilliant four-year track career.
* Remember the name Marcus Harris Jr. He stars for Eaglecrest (Centennial, Colo.) and has turned in the nation’s fastest freshman sprint times. His father told the Denver Post that he once hit a Little League home run – and the ball never left the infield. He’s also quick in the classroom with a 4.2 GPA.
* Loyola (Los Angeles) junior superstar distance runner Eric Gedyon has made a commitment to the University of California, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Three straight pick-offs
Though no records are kept, Riverside (Buffalo, N.Y.) left-handed pitcher Eric Rodriguez may have set a national record recently during the sixth inning of an 8-1 victory over DaVinci. He walked three straight batters, on four pitches each, but then picked each one off first base following each walk.
"It’s not that he’s got some great Andy Pettitte move," coach Ron Killinger said. "He’s pitched for us for two years and those were the first pick-offs he ever had. He caught each one leaning the wrong way. He came off the field pretty calm – acting like he’d been there before. I took him out after the sixth (even though) he wanted to come back in the seventh and finish the game."
* Sophomore center fielder Gus Jenkins stole eight bases as Engineering & Science (Philadelphia) edged Martin Luther King, 7-6.
* Casey Kulina fired a no-hitter with 16 strikeouts as Lower Dauphin (Hummelstown, Pa.) blanked Mechanicsburg, 4-0.
* Milestone victories: Coach Chuck Camuso of Homestead (Cupertino, Calif.) and Bobby Nappo of Wagner (Staten Island, N.Y.) both won their 600th games last week. Mark Thompson of Elder (Cincinnati, Ohio) notched No. 400.
Preps hire NFL coaches
Former University of Southern California and Los Angeles Rams coach John Robinson has been hired as defensive coordinator at San Marcos (Calif.), according to Eric Sondheimer of the Los Angeles Times. Robinson will be 75 in July.
Jon Gruden, who led Tampa Bay to its only Super Bowl victory, will be an assistant offensive line coach at Carrollwood Day (Tampa, Fla.) where his son, Deuce, is a team member. He will continue his duties at ESPN.
Jeff Rutledge, who played and coached in the NFL, is returning to Tennessee, where he won two state titles at Montgomery Bell Academy (Nashville), as head coach at Pope John Paul II (Hendersonville, Tenn.).
Former NFL running back Russell White has been named head football coach at Castlemont (Oakland, Calif.).
* Highly-ranked junior quarterback Christian LeMay has made a commitment to the University of Georgia, according to the Charlotte Observer. LeMay led Butler (Charlotte, N.C.) to a 15-0 record and its first state title by passing for 3,296 yards and 44 touchdowns with just two interceptions. He also considered Texas, Notre Dame, Auburn and Clemson.
* The Harrisburg Patriot-News reports that five-star tight end Ben Koyack of Oil City (Pa.) has committed to the University of Notre Dame. The 6-5, 230-pounder had 43 catches for 748 yards and seven touchdowns in just seven games as a junior. Among his other strong suitors were Ohio State, Oklahoma, USC and LSU.
* One of California’s premier freshmen, DaVonte Young, is transferring from Irvine to Tustin, according to Steve Fryer of the Orange County Register. Last fall he rushed for 1,612 yards and scored 20 touchdowns.
* Tom Stone has retired as head football coach at Pekin (Packwood, Iowa) with a record of 332-83-1 and three state titles in 42 years. His victory total is No. 5 in Iowa history.
* Oaks Christian (Westlake Village, Calif.) coach Bill Redell will be "roasted" on May 23 at the Canyon Club in Agoura Hills (Calif.). The event will help raise money for a new all-weather field on campus. The Los Angeles Daily News reports that a set of eight tickets is going for $5,000 and the privilege of hearing the likes of Joe Montana, Terry Donahue, Rich Neuheisel, Wayne Gretzky and maybe Will Smith take pot-shots at the veteran coach. It should be some shindig!
St. Anthony gets transfer
One of the nation’s premier sophomore basketball players, 6-8, 215-pound Kyle Anderson, will be playing next year for St. Anthony (Jersey City, N.J.) legend Bob Hurley, according to noted New York blogger Adam Zagoria. He is one of the stars left in limbo by the closing of Paterson Catholic and already is getting looks from the likes of Kentucky and North Carolina.
* One year ago, standout junior guard Matt Carlino moved from Arizona to Bloomington (Ind.) so he could be near Indiana University, where he had made a verbal commitment as a sophomore. Just last week, however, he decided to graduate this summer by taking online classes and attend UCLA. The 6-2 guard averaged 13.7 points this season for 23-1 Bloomington South.
* The Jackson Clarion Ledger reported last week that two Mississippi juniors have made college commitments. Brandon’s Tyler Adams (6-9, 255) plans to attend NCAA champion Duke. He averaged 16.8 points and 11 rebounds this year. Jackson Callaway guard Marquavius Smith, who averaged 22.4 points, chose Mississippi State.
* Butler University began to reap dividends from its Cinderella season with the commitment of junior guard Roosevelt Jones, who averaged 19.3 points, 12.1 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 3.3 steals for 30-4 O’Fallon (Ill.).
* Howard Beth, the winningest girls basketball coach in Kentucky history, has resigned at Marshall County (Benton, Ky.) with a 793-150 record and two state titles.
Weiman fires 4th no-hitter
Archbishop Spalding (Severn, Md.) junior Emily Weiman pitched her fourth no-hitter of the year and struck out 18 during a 2-0 softball victory over St. Vincent Pallotti. The North Carolina State recruit has fanned 246 this year and yielded just five runs. Loser Karlyn Buker struck out 16.
* Despite pitching with a painful kidney stone, senior Allie Duellman won three games and drove in six runs to spark Roseville (Minn.) to the Apple Valley Tournament championship.
* Kristie Hoeffer went 7 for 7 and drove in nine runs, while Hannah Joyce had six hits and drove in 10 runs as Gloucester (Va.) routed Hampton Phoebus, 44-0, behind Taylor Distefano’s five-inning perfect game.
* Gulf Breeze (Fla.) junior pitcher Alison Milam can hit, too. During a recent four-game period, she belted three grand-slam home runs.
* Senior third baseman Alex Milligan slammed seven home runs during three victories on a single day for the Moore (Okla.) slow-pitch softball team. She leads the state with 25 home runs and is batting a lofty .750.
Orozco is top gymnast
John Orozco (Bronx, N.Y.) won the men’s junior all-around title during the Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships in Melbourne, Australia. His score of 86.450 even topped the winning senior score as the U.S. won the team title with 345.950 points in the seven-nation field.
On the women’s side, Jordyn Wieber (DeWitt, Mich.) captured the junior all-around title with 59.550 points. The senior crown went to Rebecca Bross (Plano, Texas) with 59.150. The U.S. won the team title with 234.950 points over a five-team field.
Soccer champs crowned
Four girls soccer champions were crowned Saturday during the fourth annual Adidas Tournament of Champions in Burlington, Iowa. Five Midwest states were represented.
Unbeaten North (St. Charles, Ill.) edged Liberty (Mo.), 4-2, behind MVP Paige Dusek to win its bracket. Althoff (Belleville, Ill.) also remained unbeaten by defeating traditional powers St. James Academy (Lenexa, Kan.), Divine Savior Holy Angels (Milwaukee, Wis.) and St. Thomas Aquinas (Overland Park, Kan.). University of Illinois signee Megan Pawloski and junior Kelsey Dinges shared MVP honors. Pawloski scored seven goals and Dinges had five.
Park Hill South (Riverside, Mo.) won three games to take the title in its bracket. The other bracket champion was Glenbrook South (Glenview, Ill.).
Byron Nelson golf winners
Jordan Spieth (Jesuit, Dallas, Texas), Bobby Wyatt (Mobile, Ala.) and Yaroslav Merkulov (Penfield, N.Y.) have been named winners of the third annual Byron Nelson International Junior Golf Award.
* LaSalle (Wyndmoor, Pa.) sophomore golfer Brian Stefanowicz won $17,500 for his hole-in-one on Horsham Valley Golf Club’s 172-yard sixth hole while playing in a father-son event. He has a nine handicap.
