SIOUX FALLS — As Lee Reiser stepped into the ring for his last throw of the Class A boys discus finals, the outcome was already known.
Really, it was hardly ever in doubt.
The Platte-Geddes senior, the competition’s top-seeded athlete, already had the state title locked up. As such, Reiser’s sixth and final throw of the afternoon served as an encore, a celebration of his growth into an elite discus thrower after claiming a state shot put title in 2022.
Everyone spectating broke into a synchronized slow clap to encourage Reiser ahead of his final effort. Its impact was felt, allowing Reiser to claim the discus title with a walk-off personal-record heave of 177 feet, 5 inches, topping his previous career best (169-9) by nearly 8 feet.
“I was in there with my final throw knowing I had it won,” Reiser said. “Someone started the clap and it got me excited, I guess. I don’t even know what happened. I just put everything I had into it, had a lot of speed through the ring and had a good grunt — you always have to get that in there — and it sure worked out.”
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“It was a good day,” he continued. “That was the most energetic, most amazing track moment I’ve ever been a part of with the clapping. The energy was just awesome.”
Reiser’s entire display was nothing short of dominant. His worst throw of the day still came in at over 160 feet and would have been good for first place by nearly 5 feet. All told, he owned the top six individual throws of the competition.
“This moment is about as good as it could be,” said Reiser, who hadn’t set a distance goal ahead of the competition, saying he just wanted to win. “Last year, I hardly worked on discus until the region (last chance) meet because I was so bad. But this year, every throw I’ve had has been at least 150 (feet), and it’s been game-changing.”
“There are so many guys who are good at one (throwing discipline) or the other, and that used to be me,” he added. “But it makes me feel good that I can confidently say I’m good enough to throw both.”
Region 5A claimed three of the top four placings, with Chamberlain’s Canyon Burkard (155-6) and Hanson’s Brock Tuttle (148-2) checking in behind Reiser at second and fourth, respectively, on either side of Hamlin’s Cristhian Rodriguez (150-0) in third. Completing the podium finishers were Sioux Falls Christian’s Paul Hoekman (145-3), Deuel’s Robert Begalka (143-11), Hamlin’s Kaden St. Pierre (143-8) and Canton’s Jacob Vande Weerd (142-10).
Next up for Reiser is the Class A boys shot put competition. Last year, Reiser claimed the Class B title for P-G, and he’ll enter Saturday afternoon as the top seed and the favorite to repeat as champion with a season-best throw of 59-4, nearly 5 feet better than second place.
“I hope this gives me the energy I need,” Reiser said. “Last year, I was on a high from winning the shot put and didn’t do as well in discus, but hopefully, everything goes as it should and I do well there, too.”
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