Gaona: CDO thrower is best in Division II, end of discus-sion

State champion discus thrower Turner Washington has made such an impression this season that the boundaries have actually become an issue.

He’s Babe Ruth playing on a Little League field. LeBron James with an 8-foot basket. Jordan Spieth on a par-3 course. That good.

In fact, Canyon del Oro has had to extend the fences three times since its star thrower arrived.

“I want to be able to throw over the fence,” said Washington, the son of three-time U.S. Olympic discus thrower Anthony Washington. “But then, every time I get close to throwing it over the fence, they move it back.”

The 6-foot-4-inch, 244-pound Washington has passed 200 feet twice this season.

He did it the first time on March 12 with a winning throw of 201 feet 4 inches at Mountain View’s Desert Tune-Up Invitational, breaking the 23-year-old 4A state record of 200-9. Then, he set a new personal best last week with a 202 at the Kiwanis Invitational in Casa Grande, where the second-place throw was 146-2.

“When you know you hit a big one, you’re able to stand in that circle and you’re able to just watch it and you hear people in the background reacting,” Washington said. “That’s just the greatest feeling; all your hard work is paying off.”

Washington has the best mark in the state by 16 feet and he has the top distance in Division II by more than 37 feet. The junior is ranked No. 2 in the nation, and is just a little under 11 feet from the farthest throw in state history.

“He has the physical ability, the coordination and the motivation to be the best that he can possibly be,” said Rick Glider, CDO’s longtime coach. “With what he’s got, he’s going to be a champion. It’s exciting to see what he does and how far he’s come.”

Washington played football and wrestled before picking up the discus for the first time as a sixth-grader. And things didn’t get off to the best start.

“I hated it for a while,” Washington said. “My brother threw further and I never liked him being better at a sport than I was.

“Eventually, as I got better and better and spent more time doing it, it became a passion – it’s like hobby and a sport at the same time.”

As a freshman, Turner finished with a season best of 143-9. He took an even bigger step a year later, when he logged a 182-7 a month before winning the Division II state title with a 172-8.

Now the fences at CDO’s discus area are 250 feet away.

“We expected him to launch it,” Glider said. “Still, it doesn’t lessen the amazement when we watch him throw.”

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Maybe it’s the pre-meet meat. About an hour before stepping into the circle, Washington scarfs elk meat and drinks coconut water.

“Everyone thinks it’s hilarious seeing someone eat chunks of meat out of a Ziploc container,” Turner said.

Washington began eating game meat after bagging an elk on a hunting trip last year. He said he felt stronger once he started eating it regularly. Washington ate some before cracking 180 feet for the first time, and has stuck with it since.

The current pre-throw meals have been supplied by 11-year-old Dominic Buck, a family friend and big supporter.

Turner Washington’s father threw the discus at the 1992, 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games, so the genes were there. However, Anthony Washington originally thought his son would flourish in a different event.

“He was always a big kid and he’s always been athletic,” Anthony Washington said. “If he did participate in track and field, I always thought he would be more of a shot putter than a discus thrower only because he was just so big.

“He likes both events but he really started to show more promise with the discus probably around freshman year, coming out of eighth grade. It’s been really nice to see the progression.”

Just like in the discus, Turner has won all his shot put competitions this season, with a high of 53-11, the fourth-best mark in Division II .

But discus remains Turner’s primary event. He also has his sights set on competing in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

“I think about it every day,” said Washington, who has drawn college interest from Arizona, Arizona State, North Carolina and Stanford. “I have a bad habit now in class: Whenever I’m bored, I’ll start drawing Olympic rings.

“I think I get there just keeping up what I’m doing — lifting hard, throwing hard and doing whatever my dad tells me to do. I have faith it’ll come.”

Washington says his father is “the best coach he could ever have.” He admitted to not knowing too much about Anthony Washington’s throwing career until he got into the sport and did some research. That’s where he found out Anthony won at the world championships in 1999 and was a two-time Pan American Games winner.

Now Turner is following in his footsteps. His next goal: breaking the overall state record of 212-11, set in 1987.

“I want the record, I want the record,” Turner said. “I want to make it hard for the next kid who is going to come and take it.”

Talk about moving the fences back.