Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – Landon Green is a 5-foot-9, 200-pound ball of muscle.

In most circles that makes the West High junior a big guy but in the throwing circles at a track meet Green is often among the smallest athletes surrounding by competitors that have three or four inches and 30 or 40 pounds on him.

Giving up some size isn’t a problem for Green. In fact, he kind of likes being the ‘little guy’ around a bunch of bigger throwers.

It just makes winning that much more fun and Green has done plenty of winning this season.

Green ranks sixth in the state and second in Class 4A in the shot put this season with a toss of 56-11.  

“I am one of the smaller guys a lot of the time,” Green said. “I like being around those guys big because I think sometimes I think that I’m just this short guy and then I surprise them.”

Being surrounded by bigger bodies is nothing new for Green who was a starter on the West High state runner-up football team as a defensive tackle last season.

Despite his small stature Green was a disruptive force on the defensive line, ranking sixth on the team with 30 tackles including 10 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks.

The same attributes that help Green beat bigger offensive lineman on the football field help him get the better of bigger throwers in a shot put ring.

“I don’t know the football side of it but being explosive is great for him in the throws,” West High coach T.J. Craig said. “From what the football coaches say he is obviously undersized and he has a high motor and he is so explosive with that first step that he is tough to stop. That obviously translates really well over to the shot put and discus. He’s a great athlete.”

How good of an athlete is Green?

He finished seventh at the Drake Relays in the shot put last week with a toss of 54-1.

In his first Drake Relays appearance a year ago as a sophomore Green ran on the West High 4×100 relay team.

“He ran at the Drake Relays last year in our 4×100 so that shows the type of athlete he is,” Craig said. “He just loves to compete.”

Green is the freshman record holder at West High in the shot put but has taken his throwing to another level this spring.

His top effort last season was 49-8 ½.

Green has added more than seven feet to that distance this season.

“I started doing glide and that has been really clicking with me,” Green said. “I’ve been improving eve

ry single meet.”Green set the meet record at the Forwald/Coleman Relays on April 19 with his career-best toss of 56-11.

That mark was six inches better than his previous personal best.

“I’ve been consistently hitting around 53 or 54 at every meet but that one really popped so I was excited,” Green said. “That felt good.”

Green also ranks 14th in Class 4A in the discus with a toss of 154-9 and wants to compete with anyone he can in anything he can.

“He is our freshman record holder at West High so he was good at that point but I think he’s come into his own and realized he can be pretty special in this

arena too,” Craig said. “He just loves to compete whether it be a funny silly game we play at practice or the shot and disc.”