BATON ROUGE – Following a record-setting performance in winning her third-straight Indiana state title in the shot put on June 4 and defending her New Balance Outdoor Nationals crown with her national-leading performance on Saturday, Portage High School senior Tori Bliss was named the Indiana Gatorade Girl’s Track & Field Athlete of the Year earlier this week.
Bliss is the most dominant prep thrower in the history of high school track and field in Indiana as she was a four-time state champion during her brilliant career at Portage High School.
She won her third career state shot put title at Indiana University’s E.C. Billy Hayes Track on June 4 with a top mark of 50-9 on her fourth throw that shattered the previous 12-year-old state record mark of 49-7 at the 1999 state meet by Stacy Martin of Edgewood High School.
Bliss actually eclipsed the previous meet record on five of her six throws during the competition throwing 49-11 ¼ on her first throw, 50-8 on her second throw, 50-3 ¼ on her third throw, 50-9 on her fourth throw and 50-2 ½ on her fifth throw to secure her third-straight state title. She also won Indiana state titles in the girl’s shot put during her sophomore season in 2009 and during her junior season in 2010.
Bliss followed her record-setting performance at the Indiana Girl’s Outdoor State Championships with an even better performance at the New Balance Outdoor Nationals last weekend as she extended her national lead with a personal-best mark of 50-9 ½ on her sixth and final throw of the competition.
She currently ranks No. 1 among prep shot putters nationwide as her 50-9 ½ throw from the New Balance Nationals is nearly three inches farther than No. 2-ranked Torie Owers (50-6 ¾) of Athens, Ga.