Scott City’s Trent Lathum strives for states in shot put

Scott City senior Trenton Lathum has been all about football, but in his final spring in high school, he's been all about how far he can launch a shot put.

"I enjoy just being able to compete with myself one more time before my high school career is over," Lathum said.

Lathum took first place in the first Scott City track meet since 2008 with a top distance of 11.85. His best finish came during the Kennett Invitational (44-10.25), despite finishing in third place.

"Trent's been doing really well since it's his first year that he came out," Scott City head coach Travis Schiwitz said.

Schiwitz was initially surprised to find out that Lathum wasn't playing any sports during the spring, so his assistant coach, and head football coach Jim May, went over to recruit Lathum to join the track & field team.

"Coach May thought I could be a good fit for shot put," Lathum said. "After one practice, I threw pretty well, so we decided to work on it."

Lathum has two more meets (East Prairie and Saxony Lutheran) to improve his personal record before returning to Scott City for the district meet.

To him, every meet is a stop "on the road to state."

"My main goal is to improve each week and then place at state in May, said Lathum, who added that improvement comes from constant repetition and presence in the weight room. "The biggest factor to improving, though, is your technique."

The Scott City boys team won every relay race during the open meet. Nathan Ham took first place in the 300m hurdles (44.70) and anchored the winning team in the 4x400 relay race. Dillon Donley (37.4) took first place in the discus, and Andrew Barber (5.58) won the long jump.

"I would say we might have a chance to get some kids out to the postseason," Schiwitz said. "We'll be lucky to get out of district."

On the girls' side, Ashly Pruitt won four events and was part of a winning relay.

"She's done really well so far this year," Schiwitz said. "She's kind of switched over to a few different events over the last couple of years. Instead of just doing the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m, she switched over to the 100m hurdles and 300m hurdles, and she's picked up some triple-jump. She's done really well with those."

__Meet Results__

__Boys__

100m: Preston Appleton, Kelly - 11.0

200m: Namarius Warren, Scott County Central - 23.46

400m: Namarius Warren, Scott County Central - 55.90

800m: Ryan Burke, Oran - 2:18.13

1600m: Ryan Burke, Oran - 5:15.11

3200m: Mark Richie, Saxony Lutheran - 13:08.23

100m hurdles: Jared Frymire, Woodland - 16.72

300m hurdles: Nathan Ham, Scott City - 44.70

4x100m: Scott City - 46.47

4x200m: Scott City - 1:35.05

4x400m: Scott City - 3:42.95

4x800m: Scott City - 9:20.0

High Jump: Landon Ochs - 6'2"

Long Jump: Andrew Barber, Scott City - 5.58

Triple jump: Gary Cook, Woodland - 11.97

Javelin: Skyler Still, Kelly - 43.74

Discus: Dillon Donley, Scott City - 37.4

Shot Put: Tent Lathum, Scott City - 11.85

Pole Vault: Colby Miller, Woodland - 8

__Girls__

100m: Allysa Pruitt, Scott City - 16.84

200m: Camarie Perdue, Scott County Central - 28.96

400m: Mirah Roth, Saxony Lutheran - 1:09.96

800m: Logan Schiwitz, Scott City - 2:41.06

1600m: Logan Schiwitz, Scott City - 6:09.54

3200m: Myra Roth, Saxony Lutheran - 13:58.66

100m hurdles: Allysa Pruitt, Scott City - 16.84

300m hurdles: Allysa Pruitt, Scott City - 49.95

4x100m: Saxony Lutheran - 56.72

4x200m: Scott City - 2:10.66

4x400m: Scott City - 4:51.77

4x800m: Kelly - 12:01.75

High Jump: Sarah Thurmond, Kelly - 4'6"

Long Jump: Carsten Millstead, Saxony Lutheran - 4.07

Triple Jump: Allysa Pruitt, Scott City - 9.93

Shot Put: Emma Walder, Delta - 9.52

Discus: Addison Thomason, Saxony Lutheran - 26

Javelin: Blaire Riley, Kelly - 32.17

Pole Vault: Casey Call, Saxony Lutheran - 8