Photos by Scott DeCamp | CatchMark and courtesy images
You might say the past eight months have been eventful for Kellen Kimes.
Kimes, now a senior at Hart High School, shattered a Michigan state record in the weight throw with a heave of 77 feet, 8.25 inches during a Michigan Indoor Track Series meet Saturday (Feb. 11, 2023) at Aquinas College.
The toss easily surpassed the mark of 74-3 set by Carson City-Crystal’s Zane Forist last year. Kimes’ record-setting ranks him third nationally now.
Last June, Kimes captured an MHSAA Division 3 state championship in discus with a personal-record toss of 165-10 and runner-up finished in shot put with a PR of 58-8 in the meet at Kent City.
A few weeks later in the Nike Outdoor Nationals at legendary Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., Kimes tossed the hammer 195-11 to place third nationally and break a Michigan state record in the event.
In November, the 6-foot-1, 247-pound Kimes signed a national letter of intent to compete in track and field at Division I Liberty University.
According to Kellen’s father, Ken Kimes, who coaches his son at Hart, the weight throw at Aquinas would be the 25th-best throw for a high school athlete ever since they started recording marks if MileSplit were used as opposed to Athletic.net.
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