Tyler Merkley Wins Boys’ Weight Throw at 2015 Simplot Games: Wins in Thrilling Fashion, Claiming a 4th Place National Ranking
For Immediate Release
Date February 18, 2015
Contact: Amy Sorensen (801) 554-6988
E-mail: media@simplotgames.com
Tyler Merkley Wins Boys’ Weight Throw at 2015 Simplot Games
Wins in Thrilling Fashion, Claiming a 4th Place National Ranking
Pocatello, Idaho – Tyler Merkley, senior from Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., won the boys’ weight throw at the 2015 Simplot Games with a mark of 73’8.5”, ranking him 4th in the nation this year.
“I’ve been [ranked] before, but never that high on this list, so it’s exciting,” Merkley said.
Merkley, who competes for Fear the Bear Track Club, came into the competition with a positive state of mind. When asked how he felt going into today’s competition, he had one word, “Ready.”
Coming out of the preliminary rounds, Merkley was leading the pack, until two competitors out-threw him in the first rounds of the finals. But on the final throw of
Photo by H. Michael Roberts
the night, Merkley found a way to make it happen, throwing the farthest mark of the competition and bumping him into 1st place and the 4th ranked national spot.
Seth Whitener (73’02”), Kenneth Brinson (71’11”), and Isaiah Rogers (66’01”) who all compete for Throw 1 Deep of Marietta, Georgia, claimed the next three spots on the podium.
More than 2,000 athletes have come from across the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Australia to participate in the 37th annual Simplot Games. Simplot Games remains the nation’s premier high school indoor track and field event. Sponsored by the J.R. Simplot Company since 1979, the Simplot Games are held at Idaho State University’s Holt Arena in Pocatello, Idaho.
For more information on Simplot Games, please visit our website at www.simplotgames.com. You may also contact Lisa Woodland at (208) 235-5673 or Simplot Games Media Team at media@simplotgames.com.
###
Simplot Games
The Nation’s Premiere High School Track & Field Event
Pocatello, Idaho
(208) 235-5673
See Simplot Games on Twitter @SimplotGames, Facebook, Instagram, Vine and YouTube
www.simplotgames.com