Last shot, and Ferguson nails it

DES MOINES — Dalton Ferguson hit a milestone on his last throw of his last meet.

His last shot, so to speak.

The Solon High School senior already had the Class 3A boys' state shot put title in the bag, then closed with a bang, heaving it 60 feet, 0 3/4 inches.

'It's definitely what I was going for. I just went out there and relaxed,' Ferguson said. 'Obviously it was a really good throw, so I just wanted to attack it and see if I could get there.

'It feels great. It feels great. Nothing else can compare to this.

Ferguson's title and a third-place finish by the 800-meter relay team moved Solon into the thick of the 3A team race heading into the final day.

Center Point-Urbana holds a slim lead in a tightly bunched pack with 25.25 points. Solon is tied for third with 22 points, but the Spartans have an ace yet to play in Connor Ham.

Ham is favored in Saturday's 110-meter high hurdles and 200, and will anchor the Spartans' second-seeded 400-meter relay.

'Whenever you're near the top, you've got to be happy,' said CPU's Josh Yeager after the Stormin' Pointers finished third in the 1,600-meter medley relay. 'We want it as much as anybody else.'

There was little doubt as to whether Ferguson would reign (he served notice with an opening throw of 59-7 1/2), but it took until Ferguson's final ring appearance to hit 60.

'I just knew I could get there,' he said. 'It feels amazing. There's no better way to go out on the season.'

Ferguson and Shelby Gunnells provided a boy-girl, Drake-state title sweep for Solon.

Ham set a 3A state record in the 110-meter preliminaries, in 14.03 seconds.

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@sourcemedia.net