Attention coaches, when you see Canyon del Oro's Turner Washington on your schedule you better set your discus fences back - way back. And then add a buffer zone for safety.

Washington won the state championship last spring with a distance of only 172-feet-8 inches. I wrote "only" because he set a state-record 202 feet at the Casa Grande Kiwanis Invitational on Friday, April 1.

Washington's throw was the best in the nation until Houston's Adrian Piperi threw 204-feet-3 inches the very next day in Austin. Both Washington and Piperi are juniors so this could go on for a while.

"I'm having a phenomenal year, It's going really great," Washington said after winning the shot put competition at a high school meet held at Salpointe on Wednesday. "I think 205 feet is possible for me and then eventually 20 more feet next year."

His freshman best was 143-feet-9 inches and his sophomore best was 182-feet-7 inches. Washington credits dropping football to concentrate on his throwing for the huge distance gain but one has to figure a bigger body coupled with the fact that his father, Anthony Washington, was a three-time discus thrower for USA in the 1992, 1996 and 2000 Olympics had a bit to do with it.

Oh, and his uncle, Warner Smith, was an All-Pac-10 lineman at Arizona.

Smith has given Washington some great advice with college recruiting heating up. "He told me to take my time," Washington added. "He said I would know what was best when it happens."

The top four schools on the Washington recruiting trail include Arizona, Arizona State, Stanford and UCLA.
Unfortunately, Washington is unable to attend the Arcadia Invitational in California this weekend due to district regulations. The Arcadia Invite is one of the premier track meets on the west coast.