Daniel Viveros joined a select group in CA high school history to hit at least 70 feet in the shot put when he threw 71-3 on his second-to-last attempt at the Central Section South Area Regional. (Louis Amestoy photo)
On Wednesday afternoon at Griffith Field in Bakersfield, Liberty High senior Daniel Viveros became one of only five in California high school history to exceed 70 feet in the shot put.
Competing at the CIF-Central Section South Area Regional, Viveros unleashed a throw that landed 71 feet, 3 inches from the ring and one-hopped over a makeshift barrier unsuccessfully erected to contain his throws.
In what was his penultimate attempt of the competition, Viveros regained the national lead in the event, moved into fourth place on the all-time California list, and became the 21st thrower in U.S. prep history to have a legal throw at least 71-3.
Viveros also exceeded 70 feet on his final throw of the competition, according to a newspaper report.
"It felt amazing," Viveros said in an interview with Trevor Horn of the Bakersfield Californian. "You always dream about throwing 70 feet. That's the dream number for shot. To finally do it, and do it twice is unbelievable."
Viveros is the defending CIF-State Meet champion in the shot put who is headed to the University of Mississippi in the fall.
Of those to exceed 70 feet in California history, two are from Bakersfield, Viveros and Van Mounts, who holds the Central Section record of 71-10 set in 1997, according to the Californian story.
(Mounts' throw occurred at a national meet that used a more constrained international sector. According to the Track & Field News High School 2019 record book, that mark is listed as "International sector foul, within HS sector." Both the High School 2019 record book and the the all-time state records maintained on the site Prepcaltrack.com, acknowledge Mounts' throw but do not list it as part of the rankings order.)
Horn reported that both Mounts and Viveros have been coached by the same man: Rod Chronister.
MileSplitCA spent an afternoon this past winter filming Viveros in a combined discus throw/shot put workout, the latter of which with Chronister. Here's that video:
Brent Noon of Fallbrook set the state record in the shot put of 76-2 in 1990. Matt Katnik of St. John Bosco also exceeded the 70-foot mark when he hit 72-3 in 2015 and Bronson Osborn of Esperanza hit 71-7.25 in 2016.
"It's amazing. I remember watching Matt Katnik throw at Arcadia and seeing all of the 70-foot throws he had and all the success," Viveros told Horn in the Bakersfield Californian story. "It's amazing to say that I am up there with him."
Viveros has now won the shot put competition in 13 consecutive meets this outdoor season and 29 in a row outdoors dating to his last non-winning event when he placed third in the State Final as a sophomore.
Viveros first broke the 60-foot mark in the shot on May 20, 2017. Including his final three meets of his sophomore year, he has thrown at least 60 feet 29 times over his last 35 meets during the high school spring season.
The one blip in the middle of that is the California Winter Championships held before the official start of the CIF season in February where Viveros topped out at 61-11 for second place to Esperanza junior Jeff Duensing, who snatched the title with a 64-00 throw on his final attempt of the competition. Duensing was second to Viveros at the State Final last June and currently ranks CA No. 2 and U.S. No. 3 at 66-8.
Current U.S. Top 5 - Boys Shot Put
| RANK | MARK | ATHLETE/TEAM | GRADE | MEET DATEPLACE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 71-3 | 2019 | ||
| 2 | 70-2.25 | 2019 | ||
| 3 | 66-8 | 2020 | ||
| 4 | 66-6 | 2019 | ||
| 5 | 66-3.5 | 2019 |