Major Shot Put Marks Highlight Opening Week For New Jersey

New Jersey's throwing crew has been waiting to unleash a full "off-season" of work and wasted no time hitting big marks.

After the week 1 dust settled New Jersey boys saw three in the U.S. top-ten for the shot put and six in the U.S. top-20! The Garden State girls have three athletes in ranked U.S. No. 12 or better including a national leader!

U.S. No. 1 Jessica Oji, New Jersey No. 4 All-Time

That U.S. No. 1 girls performance came from Jessica Oji of Livingston, who launched a 51-8 to win the opening meet in the Garfield HS High Jump / Shot Put series. Oji now ranks fourth all-time indoors for the New Jersey shot put.

This is the first 50+ girls indoor shot put mark for New Jersey since 2018 when Shelby Bigsby of Montclair won Eastern States Championships with a 50-02, and it is the best mark since Alyssa Wilson's national record of 57-5.5 at Eastern States in 2017.

Only Alyssa Wilson of Donovan Catholic (57-5.5), Nickolette Dunbar of Whippany Park (54-7.5), and Nicole Sims of Plainfield (51-9.5) have thrown further than Jessica Oji for New Jersey indoors!

Jonathan Harris U.S. No. 2, Ties School Record

Jonathan Harris opened his 2025 indoor season with a N.J. No. 1 / U.S. No. 2 mark of 62-0.5, which ties the Delsea Regional HS school record held by Jason Nwosu since the 2022 NJSIAA Group State Championships.

The Delsea senior is the defending Group 3 state champion and was second at the 2024 NJSIAA Indoor Meet of Champions, his previous best indoor mark was 60-0.25 in mid-February of last year. During outdoor season, he threw 63-2.75 to win AAU Club Championships.

New Jersey Past The Leaders

Julia Santos of Toms River South won the Rebel Shot Put Series opening meet with a U.S. No. 4 mark of 42-1. Catalina Holliday of Hamilton North Nottingham led the Wayne Gardiner Holiday Relays with a throw of 40-0, U.S. No. 12.

On the boys' side, Capp Desheplo of West Morris Central ranks N.J. No. 2 U.S. No. 4 with his 59-4.5 to win the Monmouth University Indoor Showcase. Peter Donini of Delbarton School is N.J. No. 3 U.S. No. 8 after his Ridge Winter Invitational victory of 58-0.75.

Polar Bears Included

Our previous notes only included indoor stats but there have been a number of winter outdoor meets also known as "Polar Bear meets" held with big performances as well. 

Polar Bear stats can be filtered into the rankings via the season drop-down if interested, just select 'Indoor + Polar Bear' to do so.

Joe Seib of St. Rose has been hitting major personal bests with two throws over 60 feet in just the past two weeks. Seib won the Huisman Farm Opener (Polar Bear) with a mark of 60-8.5, and had already thrown 61-1.5 at the very end of November. Which is N.J. No. 2 on the Indoor + Polar Bear rankings.

With this meet Christian Brothers Academy teammates Marcus Blasucci, 57-11, Albert Yodakis, 57-4.5, and Cameron Feiler, 55-10 all rank inside the N.J. top ten Indoor + Polar Bear list as well. Feiler hit a 57-5.25 indoors during the Ridge Winter Invitational at Ocean Breeze at the start of the week.

Boys Shot Put State Indoor Rankings - Dec. 15th - (Full Rankings)

Girls Shot Put State Indoor Rankings - Dec. 15th - (Full Rankings)