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Speck's Blog
California �family plan� helps fuel 2007�s Strongest Male Prep Track & Field Event!!
April 23, 2007
By Doug Speck, DyeStatCal Co-Editor
McCollough, Kraychir Winning Big, Setting Standards
 | Conor McCullough
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Which event on the male side of the prep sport this year has more folks higher on the affected all-time lists than any other? Think for a minute – and you would probably not point in the direction of the Hammer Throw. That event, and the spring season lead-in Winter Indoor Weight Throw, provides a better ‘all-time’ list group than any currently on the prep track and field program! With the hammer/weight throw events long having a Northeast “feel,” with enclaves in Georgia and Washington of late adding to the event area’s success, it is a couple of California families with super successful parents in similar events that have fueled the event area’s rise to the top in 2007!
Californians prominent on the all-time and yearly lists have interesting family backgrounds with dads who can pick up any implement and still probably toss it with some authority!
Sophomore Conor McCullough (Chaminade, Canoga Park, California) amazed with a 244-02 toss at the recent Mt. SAC Relays with the 5 kilogram hammer, the relatively new implement used in the IAAF World Youth Championships. Only Walter Henning NY, the multi-record setter in the hammer and weight, is known to have thrown further with the infrequently-used 5kg ball and chain (259-08). (Video of the 244-02 at http://www.takkle.com/recent/videos/video/1548/).
That same weekend Conor was 231-09 with the Prep 12 pound implement to record the #8 prep mark ever with that weight Hammer and take down the 226-06 National Soph Class record by Henning from 2005.
Keeping up with hammer marks can be a bit confusing for anyone except the most ardent event fans. That 5kg hammer used for “Youth” (Under 18) competitions is 11.02 pounds, almost a pound less than the standard 12-pound prep hammer. On the other hand, the 6kg hammer, used for “Junior” (Under 20) competitions nationally and internationally, is equal to 13.2 pounds. Henning holds the US record for both the 5kg and 6kg implements, and is #2 all-time with the prep hammer.
But McCollough’s 244-footer with the 5 kg hammer takes on special significance this year, with his being in the pool for the World Youth Championships coming up this summer. It exceeds the 240-03 toss by Richard Olbrich, Germany, which was the best among World Youth eligibles in 2006.
 | Hank (father, left) and Trevor (son) Kraychir at NIN. Photo Donna Dye
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It turns out that McCullough’s father was a 1984 Olympian in Los Angeles, and also threw for his native Ireland in the 1988 Games in Seoul. Obviously, the Los Angeles area settled well with dad, as Conor is a sophomore at Chaminade High School in the West Hills area of the San Fernando Valley. He was 203-11 with the Junior weight implement last year, so his improvement is more than mildly impressive thus far this season! Conor will get some super experience this summer as he moves towards a career path cleared by his father.
Team Kraychir at 29 Palms High School in the Desert area of California, and a real family “operation,” has a talented male duo in senior Trevor, and junior Trent. Father Hank was a California State Prep and Community College Champ in the Shot and Discus Events, and was a four-time All-American for the University of Southern California with bests of 67-05 with the Shot and 203-08 with the Discus!
A Senior, gradewise, who has signed at Boise State, Trevor exploded this winter at the Nike Indoor Championships in the Weight Throw, recording the #4 prep mark ever in winning at 81-04.75, and was 177-03 a week ago at the Mt. SAC Invitational, throwing the International 16 pound hammer implement (he was 189-03 last year with that weight ball). He has been out to 210-10 this spring with the High School 12 pound implement, the #6 throw in the nation among preps! The family also has female frosh sister Casey, who threw a National Frosh Record this spring, with eighth grade sister Katie a great future talent!
With Californians pressing at his heels, Walter Henning (St. Anthony’s, South Huntington, New York) leads the event. Walter was an amazing eighth place last summer in Beijing in the World Junior Track and Field Championships at 235-11 (with the 6kg implement used there). He will be back in two years at those “under-age 20” World Championships as the top returnee in the entire world for his age (with McCullough’s 2007 success obviously helping the US send an awesome squad to the 2008 World Junior Champs)!
 | | Walter Henning at World Juniors last year. Photorun.net |
Showing the strength of the event, Henning was named both DyeStat and Track & Field News’ High School Male Athlete of the Year for 2006! Along the way he is the #2 US All-time throwers with the 12 pound implement at 252-06 (behind Jacob Freeman of Rhode Island’s legendary 253-03), and has a 248-00 best already this spring in the New York area. Henning, a University of North Carolina signee, whose dad Walt is a High School Track Coach in Farmingdale, spent part of last summer in Canada with famed Soviet Coach Dr. Anatoly Bondarchuk, an Olympic Champion. Walter had a super winter this year “undercover,” tossing the Weight implement to a prep record 86-05.5, extending his own 85-06 from 2006 three times as the prep standard there! The next mark on the all-time prep list is 82-10 by Leif Arrhenius of Utah from 2004.
The State of Washington has a very strong duo in Jordan Stray (Centralia), who was the USATF Junior Olympic Champion and Golden West Invitational Champ, with a 221-00 this season already for the #3 spot on the 12 pound High School list behind Henning and McCullough. Stray is a University of Oregon signee for next year, with a 2006 best of 223-11, among US Prep History’s top twenty all-time. Fellow Washington star Zack Richards (Monroe) sits #4 nationally this spring with the HS implement at 212-08, part of a group nurtured by former Dartmouth Coach Ken Weinbel in the West Seattle area.
With last year’s National DyeStat and Track and Field News Athlete of the Year leading this talented event area, the California ‘family plan’ approach, and usual solid crews from Washington and Georgia, keep an eye on the hammer ring this spring as one that includes the most talented group on the entire event program!
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