Story by Rich Fisher | Correspondent
It was pretty much business as usual for Alyssa Wilson this winter, which meant breaking records, turning heads and dropping jaws.
The Donovan Catholic senior won every one of her competitions throughout the indoor season. She continued to make the Shore Conference meet her own domain, and won the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Meet of Champions with a meet record throw in the shot put.
Then came new heights March 1, as Wilson set the girls’ indoor national high school shot put record with a throw of 57-5½ at the Eastern States Indoor Championship in The Armory’s New Balance Track and Field Center, New York City. She followed that up by winning the New Balance Nationals with a throw of 54-5¼.
In breaking the previous national mark of 56-7½ set by South Carolina’s Raven Saunders in 2014, Alyssa became the first U.S. high school girl to break 57 feet in the shot put.
Wait, it gets better.
It has also made her the No. 1 ranked Under-20 shot putter in the world. In fact, Wilson has the top 12 throws in the world for U-20 girls.
The top 12!
“That still hasn’t set in,” said the Jackson resident and parishioner of St. Joseph Parish, Toms River.
Her crowning achievement came at Easterns, which has been the backdrop for some of her best showings.
“I remember last year, I lost to (Whippany Park’s Nickolette) Dunbar in the Meet of Champions and I was determined to make a comeback at Easterns,” Wilson said. “That’s where I threw a 54-11, which was my best throw at the time.”
Dunbar threw an MOC meet record 53-2 to beat Wilson’s throw of 50 feet. This year, with Dunbar throwing for LSU, Wilson promptly beat her MOC mark with a throw 55-2¼ to give her a nice boost into the Easterns.
“That day I felt really strong,” she said of her U.S. record-setting throw. “As soon as I hit my power position and it left my hand I felt it, I knew I had a lot of power behind it. I had been trying to go after the national record all of the indoor season. I got it by 10 inches, and I just felt excitement and I was happy I was able to do it.”
With indoor competition behind her, Alyssa is now focused on her final high school spring season. Her goal is always to surpass her indoor accomplishments so she is looking to “throw anything around 60 feet, but I’m excited to throw the hammer now, that’s my favorite event.”
She will also be doing discus, which she threw a state record 175-1 last year, and hopes to get in the 190s. The national mark is 198. She is coming back as the second best hammer thrower in the nation with a 191-2, and wants to make a run at the national mark of 214.
“I like outdoors better, because I have two other events to fall back on,” she said.
With no Dunbar to push her this year, Wilson had to find a new person to challenge her. She picked a pretty tough one.
“I need someone to push me, so I’m just focused on beating myself,” she said.
It will be fun to see what she accomplishes in her final months of high school. This summer Wilson will try to make it back to the International Association of Athletics Federation’s World Under-20 Championships in Peru. Wilson finished third when the event was staged in Poland last year, throwing 53-7.
From there it is off to UCLA, where she is set up for five years with plans on redshirting one year. She hopes that year will be 2020 – the next Summer Olympics.
“I want to do it that way because the coach wants me to redshirt and so I can get an extra major,” Wilson said. “I would like to go to the Olympics, we’ll see what happens. I definitely have to work on my speed in the rings that can carry over to every one of my throws.”
Wilson chose UCLA over Oregon, which she visited before heading down to California.
“When I went to Oregon’s campus everything was great, but I wanted to keep an open mind and that ended up being my second choice,” she said. “At UCLA all the teammates were really nice, I liked the coach and sunshine and the weather. One of the main factors for me was that the two throws coaches are the athletic director and the head track and field coach. So throwers are the main thing over there.”
Which makes one wonder with great anticipation, just how much better Alyssa Wilson will get over the next five years.