Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

TIFFIN – Last season was the breakthrough for Clear Creek Amana thrower Landon Prince.

Prince qualified for the state meet for the first time last spring as a junior earning a state medal in the discus in his debut performance at Drake Stadium.

Last seasons’ breakout season was just the start for Prince who has simply never stopped improving since his freshman season.

“Landon is kind of a case study because he has always been a great kid and he’s always worked hard but his freshman year he was a 35-foot shot putter,” Clear Creek Amana coach Ben Robison said. “He has completely, totally, dedicated himself to the craft. He’s not the bigger thrower out there size-wise but technically there is nobody better.”

A notoriously hard worker, Prince came into his own late last season.

He finished fourth at the Class 3A state meet in the discus with a toss of 167-11 and was 16^th in the shot put with a career-best mark of 49-9 ¼.

Prince spent the offseason working in the weight room and on his technique.

It was after a trip to Nike Nationals in Oregon last summer that he flipped a switch.

After Nike Nationals I really started taking it serious and I knew if I took it serious and put in the work it would be worth it,” Prince said. “That’s been the biggest thing for me in improving.”

The work has already showed up in a big way this season as Prince has emerged as one of the best throwers in the state.

Prince currently has the best throw state-wide in both the discus and the shotput shattering his previous career best marks in both events.

“He has done a really good job of keeping his goals not totally outcome driven we are just chipping away at it and I know he has big things he wants to accomplish but he is keeping it right in front of him the whole time,” Robison said. “He is showing more maturity than most kids his age are able to.”

Prince set new career-bests and state-leading marks in both the discus and shot put in a span of a few days last week.

At the Williamsburg Invitational on Tuesday Prince won the discus with a toss of 182-2 which bested the top mark in the of 178-0 by West High junior Colin Whitters.

Two days later Prince won the shot put at the Clear Creek Amana Invitational with a toss of 60-9 ¾.

Greyson Hartman of Washington has the next best shot put mark this season at 58-7.

“When I threw 60 I was just in shock,” Prince said. “I’m just super happy for my progress and how I’ve been able to continue to go up.”

With the huge leaps in distance this season Prince has been already reset his personal goals for the season.

However, his biggest focus is still simply improving.

“At the start of the year I wanted to throw 60 and 200 and I’ve already gotten to 60 so now it’s just getting to 200,” Prince said. “The biggest goal is hopefully just continuing to build incrementally.”

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