BATON ROUGE — For the second time this season, LSU sophomore Walter Henning has been named the Southeastern Conference Male Field Athlete of the Week following his record-setting performance at the Sun Angel Classic in Tempe, Ariz., this past weekend.
Henning established himself as an NCAA title contender in the hammer throw after recording an NCAA-leading mark of 235 feet, 5 inches to win the event at Arizona State’s Sun Angel Stadium.
Not only does his mark rank No. 1 in the NCAA this season, but it is also a new personal best by exactly 10 feet and shatters the previous LSU school record by more than 13 feet. Henning broke the previous school record of 222-3 held by former Tiger standout Dave Paddison since 1994.
No one in the hammer throw competition at this year’s Sun Angel Classic came within 11 feet of catching Henning for the event title as Arizona State’s Jason Lewis was runner-up with a mark of 223-7 and Boise State’s Simon Wardaugh took third with a toss of 215-10. Both competitors were All-Americans in the 35-pound weight throw at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Lewis was the NCAA champion in the event, while Wardaugh finished in fifth place.
Henning, a native of Kings Park, N.Y., won All-America honors of his own at this year’s NCAA Indoor meet with a fourth-place finish in the weight throw. He is now the school record holder in both the weight throw (74-5 ?) and hammer throw (235-5) in his first season at LSU.
His mark of 235-5 is just two inches better than Virginia Tech’s freshman Marcel Lomnicky, who was the previous NCAA leader with a throw of 235-3.