Penfield grad shatters 57-year-old Section V shot put record

There was praise for anyone who approached the Section V high school boys outdoor shot put record, let alone come close to actually breaking the mark set by Roger Taylor in 1967.

Taylor's record was sturdy enough to stand for 57 years. His accomplishment with the Canandaigua team may take that long to fade from Section V track and field history.

Peter Northrup, at his final meet in a Penfield uniform, finally matched Taylor's record of 64 feet-5.75 inches and then reset the mark to 64-10 during the state championships. Northrup was as surprised as anyone.

"Both of those throws didn’t feel huge," Northrup said. "I think the big thing was adrenaline.

"I did things the right way and the adrenaline kind of pushed it for me."

When Northrup put the shot 64-5.75 at Cicero-North Syracuse High, it gave him the Division 1 or large public schools state title, in addition to a piece of the highly respected Section V record. The 64-10 record-breaker shot was more than enough for the Federation state title that went to athletes with the best results no matter what school they attended.

"Last year, I had some miserable performances (at states), in my opinion," Northrup said. "It was almost redemption.”

Lori Barnard-Northrup, Peter's mother, shared a video of her son's record-tying throw during the first day of the state meet.

"I threw, and I here someone say I broke it," Northrup said. "I'm completely shocked by the distance, as I'm walking back.

Northrup tied the sectional record on his first throw at the state meet. He fouled his second attempt, then put the shot at 62-1.25, 60-11.75, and 62-5 before another foul.

"I look at the Section V records, so I knew where I had to go."

"You can see the trajectory," Penfield coach Aubrey Sheffield said. "That was the first time that all of his (good) throws were in the 60s.

"You saw his whole demeanor start changing as things went on. He fouled one that was close to 66."

Northrup fouled all three of his attempts in the Division 1 public schools discus throw competition. But he was through to the Federation shot put event, one of eight competitors, including Pittsford Mendon senior Bradley Pollard.

The first shot by Northrup in the Federation event went 62-6.25. Shot no. 2 was a foul. The historic attempt was No. 3, followed by a foul.

Maybe it was worth a trip to the New Balance Nationals Outdoors to see what he could do in Philadelphia, after all. Northrup came in fifth-place in the championship division shot up. His best throw was 63-11 1/2.

"I fouled every other attempt (five after the first)," Northrup said. "I was trying to really push it.

"First and second place was over 66 feet. It was me trying to get something out of me that probably wasn't in there. I wasn't going to go (until his performance at states). I was ranked in the 20s."

Sheffield said Northrup's future coach at Cornell University was surprised the Democrat and Chronicle All-Greater Rochester indoor and outdoor athlete and "student of the game" has only been "doing this two years.

"We can't take credit," Sheffield said. "A lot of it was self-taught."

State champions

There is rarely smooth sailing to a state title.

Track and field requires athletes to win a qualifier event or hit a performance standard at an invitational-sized meet to get into the state championships. Then of course, there are competitors from Buffalo to Long Island at the meet.

When the athletes from Section V and all over the state arrived in Cicero, Onondaga County, there was the added hurdle of rain - and lots of it - to get past in order to get their hands on a state champion medal.

Sheffield, the coach at Penfield, described the weather on day one of the state meet as "awful. We had to stop for a total of almost three hours. They pushed through (to stay keep the day two schedule in-tact)."

“It kept on pouring," Northrup said. "It was probably two hours of pouring rain. There was 30 minutes of delay (for safety reasons) every time there was thunder.’’

Northrup said there might have been some athletes who missed calls to resume the meet or decided risk of injury was too great to compete.

Athletes were given some relief when the rule that required someone to drop of the state meet entirely if they scratched from one event, was wiped away.

“I didn’t care how late we were throwing," Northrup said. "I just wanted the rain gone.”

Sheffield said that some athletes left the school to return to Section V's hotel at about 11:15 p.m., but day two was "a nice day," in the end.

Here are the athletes from Section V who overcame the challenges at the meet and returned to their homes as state champions:

• Peter Northrup (Penfield) : Federation boys shot put and Division 1 (large schools) public schools boys shot put.
• Aiden Bryant (Midlakes) : Division 2 public schools boys triple jump and Division 2 public schools boys long jump.
• Logan Corteux (Red Creek) : Wheelchair 100-meters, Wheelchair 200-meters, Wheelchair shot put and Wheelchair discus throw.
• Paige Harding (Oakfield-Alabama) : Division 2 public schools girls pole vault.
• Brandt Marshall (Brockport) : Division 1 public schools boys 400-meter hurdles.
• Kaylee Oswald (Wellsville) : Division 2 public schools girls shot put.
• Jake Palermo (Hilton) : Federation boys 400-meter dash and Division 1 public schools boys 400-meter.
• Sheldon Siverling (Batavia) : Division 2 public schools boys shot put.
• Perrion Williams (Franklin/Northeast/World of Inquiry/School of the Arts) : Division 1 public schools boys 100-meter dash.
• Hilton 4 x 100 relay : Robert Lowry, Jake Palermo, Jason Pellechia, Robert Taddeo.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Penfield grad shatters 57-year-old Section V shot put record