Arizona's Jordan Geist wins national championship in shot put on final throw of college career

It all came down to the final throw in Jordan Geist’s career as a Wildcat — on the biggest stage, the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

One monster heave and he takes home the title that had eluded him for the last six years: NCAA outdoor shot put champion.

One-not-so-great throw and he finishes second to his freshman-year roommate and friend, Turner Washington – the Canyon Del Oro grad who transferred from Arizona to rival ASU.

As Geist stepped into the ring and got set at Mike A. Myers Stadium, trying to focus on all the little details in his technique, his competitor, Washington, was directly in front of him with his game face on.

Geist concentrated on the task at hand, leaned back, spun and let it rip. And boy, was it a throw. The moment it left his hand and flew into the air, everyone knew: Geist was the national champion.

His throw at 21.06 meters just edged Washington’s 21.04 meters.

As soon as it was official, Geist jumped and celebrated on the track in Austin, Texas.

The multiple All-American, Pac-12 champion and Pac-12 Men’s Field Athlete of the Year had put an exclamation point on his collegiate career.

“It feels great,” Geist said after his win. “Pretty slow start in the competition, but I was able to build throughout and the last one ... was decent enough to take the lead.

“Getting it done at the end of the day is all that matters.”

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This was Geist’s second-best performance of the year in the shot put.

Geist’s teammates, Youssef Koudssi (18) and Zach Landa (20), also place in the top 20.

Earlier in the day, Geist finished third in hammer with a throw of 75.97 meters — a personal best that broke his own UA mark of 74.14 set at the Jim Click Shootout in April. It was also the fifth best in Pac-12 history and landed in the No. 13 spot in NCAA annals.

He was edged by Harvard’s Kenneth Ikeji (77.92) and Minnesota’s Kostas Zoltas (76.33), who also threw personal bests to finish 1-2 just above Geist.

Geist made 12 total throws — hammer and shot put combined — over the day in the heat in Austin.

Geist goes down as one of the best to ever compete at Arizona. He won from his freshman year to his final meet. He won Pac-12 Freshman of the Year honors, conquered both indoor and outdoor seasons and set personal, meet, school and NCAA records. In his freshman year he was the Pac-12 discus champion as well.

This season he finished as the Indoor and Outdoor shot put national champion, Pac-12 champion and is on The Bowerman award watch list.

Off the track he’s been on the USTFCCCA Men’s All-Academic Team multiple times, has been a CoSIDA first-team Academic All-American and made CSC Academic All-District a week ago.

Geist is planning to turn professional soon and will be training for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

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