LIMA, Peru – The summer of
Zachary Short continues, with the soon-to-be senior competing at the XVIII Pan American Games in Lima, Peru. Short will take on the shot put competition, beginning at 3:50 p.m. Pacific on Wednesday, Aug. 7.
The Pan American Games features more than 6,500 athletes competing in 39 sports and 61 disciplines, with several serving as qualifiers for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Short will be one of the youngest in the competition, and is one of three athletes still competing at the college level. Santiago Edward Basso Hughes competes for Alabama collegiately and advanced to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Austin, Texas, last season. He will be representing Chile. Jordan Geist, who competes for Arizona collegiately, will be representing Team USA.
Short and Geist have seen each other a lot in recent months. Both competed at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championship Preliminary Rounds in Sacramento, with Geist advancing to the finals in Austin. They met again one month ago at the North America, Central America and Caribbean (NACAC) U23 Championships in Mexico, with both making the podium.
Short has already had an impressive summer, after taking third overall at the NACAC U23 Championships. An accomplished international athlete, Short already holds three national records for Honduras. His outdoor personal best of 18.80 meters in the shot put is a national record, as is his PR of 53.54 meters in the discus. Short also owns the national record in the javelin, dating back to high school.
Short had an excellent junior season with the Vandals. He won the shot put competition at the 2019 Big Sky Indoor Track and Field Championships with a conference-record mark, and earned All-America Second Team honors at the 2019 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. He took home silver at the Big Sky Outdoor Championships, and advanced to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships Preliminary Rounds for the second consecutive year.
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