GREAT FALLS — As of Wednesday, Class C boys shot put and discus is led by the same athlete, and he just so happens to be the defending state champion in both. Chester-Joplin-Inverness' Dane Grammar is again setting the standard for each throw in the classification.
A best shot put of 51 feet, 6 inches and a top discus mark of 166-3 has Grammar leading the way among his competition.
"When I was in junior high and stuff, it's always like, I want to win state so bad, like one time. And to have the opportunity to do it more than once is just kind of a really big deal to me personally," Grammar said during Tuesday's Cascade Top 8 meet at Great Falls Memorial Stadium. "I just hope to keep improving and just keep getting those marks up and, you know, hopefully win another two state titles."
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At the Cascade Top 8, Grammar took home wins in both throws. He said confidence is high knowing people are chasing after his marks.
"Having everyone there hyping you up, kind of, got a really good group of guys with me all the time," Grammar said. "They're a lot of fun to be with and they just make it fun."
Even though they may compete against one another in select sports, Grammar said the throwing community at these small-town meets is a great group to be a part of.
"The throwers in general just have a lot of fun together," Grammar said. "We're not too scared of each other or anything and we have a lot of fun together. And I think that shows because we all get pretty good marks, I think."
Grammar's best discus toss this season — which happened this past Saturday at the Celtic Classic in Great Falls — ranks sixth across Montana, as well.
"I look at it quite a bit," Grammar said. "It's kind of fun to just see where it's at and, you know, there's a lot of good discus throwers in the state this year. So everything's been changing all the time and it's just been really cool to look at."
The season is heading down the final stretch, with the state meets upcoming at the end of the month. Grammar said he'll be targeting the Class C records of 56-7½ in shot put and 174-3 in discus.
"Hopefully I can get those out there and it'd be really cool to get those my junior year and keep building on them for my senior year," Grammar said.
The C-J-I Hawks and Grammar next compete in Saturday's Archie Roe meet in Kalispell.
