By Mike Monahan

After competing in the Class 2A shot put finals, Charleston senior Alex Stout was enjoying a sandwich.

The Eastern Illinois bound athlete had just earned sixth place with a heave of 15.87 meters in the shot put, just a little farther than 52 feet, to become the first Charleston boys shot putter to place in the event. 

Stout is the first Charleston boys athlete to place in any event at the state meet since Dylan Black took second in the pole vault in 2019. 

The top nine finishers in the IHSA state meet in each event place.

Stout, who entered the meet seeded No. 9, had the seventh best throw after Friday’s prelims, sending him into the finals flight of 12 Saturday at EIU’s O’Brien Stadium.

“He has really improved in the last two to three weeks,” said Charleston assistant track coach Brad Oakley. “He has been throwing over 50 (feet) every meet recently. He made himself into a good thrower.”

That’s a big improvement over last year when Stout regularly threw in the mid-40s.

“Going into Friday we were hoping to make the top 12,” Koebele said. “And after Friday, we thought, if he has a good day, he could finish higher. He dropped to No. 9 after the first throw as guys were throwing really well. He moved up to sixth after his last throw. He is an all-stater and worked extremely hard. He is a great kid. Brad Oakley did a great job with him. Stout is one of those kids you won’t come across very often in your career.”

Stout had thrown 50-5 on his first throw Friday, scratched his second and threw his third 50-7½ to make it finals.

On Saturday, his first throw was 45-4 ½ and his second was 52-0¼ on his final throw of his high school career.

“I was concentrating on my feet, getting my left foot planted,” said Stout. “That was the key on why I threw it farther (Saturday).”

He credits Oakley, his first throw coach since starting track in middle school. “He focused on what I was doing wrong and helped me fix it,” Stout said.

Oakley said Stout’s calm demeanor helps as well.

“It is hard to tell when he is down or tell when he is excited, which is a good thing at a meet like the state meet,” said Oakley. “You don’t want to have high highs or low lows. You want to be calm and composed as possible and that is the right temperament to throw in big meets. Alex is a student of the game. He spends a lot of time watching tape of other throwers and watching himself. The Big thing is trying to take the technical part and make yourself a better thrower and he really did that.”

The high school career ended Saturday with Stout receiving his sixth place medallion and hearing his name announced.

“It was awesome to hear my name announced,” said Stout. “It felt really good to be throwing in the ring I will be throwing in for the next four years. It is going to be great.”