TUCSON — Rachel Richeson solidified her hold as the No. 3 all-time American women’s hammer thrower and Madison Wiltrout threw two lifetime bests in the javelin to highlight Saturday’s USATF Throws Festival at the University of Arizona’s Drachman Stadium. The meet was the seventh stop on the 2026 USATF Tour and a World Athletics Continental Tour Silver event.
Richeson launched the four-kilogram ball 78.95/259-0 on her final attempt to set a PB and take the measure of a pair of Chinese Olympic and World Championships medalists. Jiale Zhang, the 2025 World Championships bronze medalist, took the lead in the opening round with a 76.47/250-10 that would stand up as her best of the day, but Richeson responded with a 76.83/252-0 in the next stanza to take over at the top of the standings. She improved to 77.09/252-11 in round five before her PB in the final round.
Jie Zhao, a silver medalist at the World Championships last year and a bronze medalist at the Olympics in Paris, ended up third with a 75.62/248-1 on her final attempt. 2022 world champion Brooke Andersen placed fourth, while Paris silver medalist Annette Echikunwoke was fifth.
Adding to her undefeated skein in 2026, Wiltrout picked up her fifth straight victory of the year with a PB 63.88/209-7 in round four after taking the lead on her initial attempt at 59.85/196-4 and improving to another PB of 63.84/209-5 in the second round. Those throws kept her in sixth place on the all-time U.S. performer list. Last year’s USATF bronze medalist, Sarah Blake, had a huge PB on her first attempt, hitting 59.69/195-10 to add more than two meters to her previous best and finish second.
Winning his third straight meet of the season, American record holder Rudy Winkler dominated the men’s hammer with a best of 80.88/265-4 on his first attempt to take the title by almost 10 feet. Winkler is one of only three Americans to have ever bettered that distance in competition. Trey Knight claimed second with a 78.01/255-11 toss, and Canada’s Rowan Hamilton, the 2024 NCAA champion, was third at 76.55/251-1. One of the pleasant surprises of the day came from Grayson Fleming, who added almost three meters to his PB with a 75.23/246-10 in round five.
2025 World Championships bronze medalist Curtis Thompson picked up his third straight victory in the men’s javelin, hitting 82.94/272-1 on his first throw to beat Marc Anthony Minichello, who surpassed 80m again with an 81.27/266-7 in round two.
Reggie Jagers was victorious in the men’s discus with a best of 63.98/209-11, and Italy’s Nick Ponzio won the shot put at 21.19/69-6.25. In the women’s discus, Jayden Ulrich won by more than 13 feet with a best of 65.08/213-6, while Adelaide Aquilla-Browley took top honors in the women’s shot put at 19.20/63-0, a season best.
Jumping events saw Jeremiah Davis span 8.09/26-6.5 for the men’s long jump win and a tie between Christyan Sampy and Nate Richartz for the pole vault crown at 5.62/18-5.25. Vashti Cunningham won the women’s high jump with a clearance at 1.91/6-3.25.
