Photo Credit: Christian Lisle - MileSplit
Undefeated now across half a dozen shot put competitions during the 2024 indoor season, it felt like it was just a matter of time before Dillon Morlock etched his name on top of the Ohio high school all-time indoor rankings.
That suspicion became a reality on Sunday at the Tiffin University High School Series No. 3 meet, where Morlock, a Norwayne senior and Michigan State signee, launched a throw of 67 feet, 11 inches to win the event and set a new personal best in the process.
The effort overtook his own previous top result of the season (66-4.5) to reaffirm his position at Ohio No. 1 and the mark also shifted him past Luke Himes (Heritage Christian, IN) for the national lead during the indoor campaign.
Himes drops to the No. 2 slot via his 67-5 performance at the Warsaw Tiger Showcase.
Morlock has maintained a busy schedule over the winter with a pair of December outings and then competing almost every weekend since the yearly calendar has turned.
He started off throwing just under 59 feet and 58 and a half, respectively, in his few competitions and then he really started to get going.
Morlock pushed the mark to 66-4.5 at Kent State in mid-January and kept it rolling during his next two appearances (65-10 at YSU No. 2 and 61-7 at SPIRE Showcase) before he elevated his game to the next level at the Heminger Center.
Photo Credit: Christian Lisle - MileSplit
Morlock's toss of 67-11 stations him at No. 1 Ohio high school all-time (indoors), as he moves past the great Charles Moye (Akron-Ellet), who held the record dating all the way back to 1987 when he established the state's top standard of 67-3.5.
Regrettably we lost Moye far too soon with his passing in 2012 at just 44 years of age.
Notably, during Morlock's series at Tiffin, he produced another throw (67-6) that exceeded Moye's previous state best.
Morlock's record setting performance complements the OHSAA Division II all-time best he already holds (65-0.25 at the 2023 State Championships).
The Ohio outdoor all-divisions record is owned by Dustin Brode (Canfield), who threw 71-7.5 in 2010 while competing in Division I. Morlock actually has an outdoor PR of 65-4.25 from the 2022 State Championships when Norwayne was affiliated with Ohio's Division III.
The OHSAA all-time record holder in Division III for the shot put event is Nick Demaline (Liberty Center), who threw 68-10.5 in 2014.
Reviewing Morlock's latest accolade would be incomplete without a first-hand account of the experience, so we appreciate his willingness to share with MileSplit a detailed event summary.
Thanks are also extended to Ohio high school track and field historian Kurt Francis for his continued input and resource sharing, as we attempt to report our state's record breaking performances with context and precision.
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Photo Credit: Christian Lisle - MileSplit
Shot Put Event Report by Dillon Morlock
(Tiffin High School Series Meet No. 3)
I started out the competition by having a really good warm-up throw so I knew it was going to be a day.
On my first competition throw I think I let the feeling of the warm-up get to me and I had a really far foot foul. I knew I just had to start steady and build into it throughout the competition, so I essentially hit a reset after the first throw.
Then after that I just got into a rhythm with my throws, a 64 in round two then a 65 in round three, I just kind of felt like I was missing slightly and knew a big throw was about to come.
In Round four I finally got a good release. To me it felt like one of those throws where you just know that it's good. The fact that everything clicked was just as satisfying as hearing the mark.
The rest of the competition I spent trying to tweak to get some more distance but I did end up finishing with another 67' foot throw.
I credit my throws to the attention to detail that I have put into my training and throws recently.
I'm consistently pushing myself to the limit in the weight room, as well as staying focused and disciplined during practices to effectively improve my technique.
-- Dillon Morlock, Norwayne
