(It's offical! Barrington's Bobby Colantonio breaks freshman national record for collegiate hammer)
Twice during his final few throws, Barrington High freshman Bobby Colantonio unleashed the hammer and it scraped against the fence before going out onto the field.
Twice he hit the fence and twice he broke the national high school freshman record at the annual Sons of Italy hammer competition Saturday morning at Conley Stadium. It was Colantonio’s fifth of six throws for the 16-pound collegiate hammer that etched his name in the books as the Eagle standout had a toss of 160-05 to break the 1-year-old record of Georgia’s Kenneth Brinson (152-11) by nearly eight feet.
Colantonio’s previous best heading into the competition, which also featured collegiate and post-collegiate athletes, was 142 feet.
“I had a good week of practice,” he said. “I just knew it was there.”
Among high school athletes, Colantonio finished fifth overall. He was also fifth in the 12-pound (high school) hammer with a heave of 196-03. In both events, national record-holder Rudy Winkler of New York claimed the individual titles. Winkler won the 12-pounder with a distance of 247-03, breaking his own meet record of 246-02 set at last year’s event. With the college hammer, the Columbia-bound senior had a winning toss of 210-05. That smashed his old record of 186-04 from 2012.
Colantonio’s initial intention was to try and break the frosh national record for the 12-pound hammer of 213-11 by California’s Connor McCullough in 2006. His current best is 200-8, which 
he threw at the Hendricken Invitational this past May. He will have one last attempt at McCullough’s mark on Aug. 25 in another Sons of Italy meet.
Colantonio first broke the 16-pound record on his fourth throw of his series with a distance of 156, despite the hammer nicking the fence during its ascent into the open field. He had a near carbon-copy on his next one for his final record.
“I think it was more mental,” he said about his less-than-perfect throws. “I wasn’t really prepared. I think I should prepare myself more mentally before (the competition). Once the meet starts, there is not really much you can do. It was just simple stuff. It was simple stuff I messed up on. I have more in me. It’s always questionable, but I’m thinking I could have broken the record by at least 10 feet if I didn’t hit the fence.”
Colantonio was surprised on his first record-breaker, but felt he had enough on his next attempt.
“The first one I felt I kind of lost it. I felt some good points in it but there was a lot that I missed,” he said. “The second one felt a little bit better. That one actually felt really good, except it hit the fence, too.”
Winkler, who set a national record of 260-5 for the high school hammer this summer, was competing in Rhode Island for the second time in a month. He also won the 12-pound competition at the Hammerama on July 14.
Winkler was a little off with the 12-pounder. He fouled on his final three throws.
“I don’t know? I came here wanting to throw over 80 (meters) and get the (national) record again,” he stated. “That was one of my goals and I didn’t do it. I should have relaxed and had fun. But I threw 75 (meters) after a long season so I can’t complain.”
Winkler’s next time in the circle will be his most important. In a few more weeks, he’ll take a flight out to Columbia where he’ll compete in the Junior 
Pan American Championships (Aug. 23-25). In that meet, Winkler will throw the 6K (13.2 pounds) hammer.
“We’ll see how it goes,” he said. “I am super excited. It’s going to be a great trip. I am throwing the first day so I kind of get to relax the rest of the week.”
R.I. state champion Charlie Ionata of Barrington, who is bound for Wake Forest in the fall, was one of several local high-schoolers in the meet. He finished second (220-04) in the 12-pound hammer and was third (181-05) behind the runner-up finish of Central’s Clarence Gallop (184-04) in the collegiate hammer.
“It was alright,” Ionata said. “I have been kind of taking the last month off and taking a break before college starts. I am happy with what I did today. I wasn’t expecting anything huge. It’s a nice, my last high-school meet. It was a good day.”
In the girls’ high school events, Classical sophomore Alva Hicks captured both hammer competitions. She threw the 3K apparatus a distance of 168-08 to establish a new meet record. She took the 4K hammer at 145-06.
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It was learned later in the meet in an e-mail sent to Bob Gourley by Track and Field News Senior Editor (high school boys) Jack Shepard that Colantonio had broken the age-14 record for the 12-pound hammer numerous times this past outdoor season. The Eagles’ weightman, who turned 15 on May 18, had an age-14 best of 194-01 at the Classical Classic on May 11. That effort smashed the old record of 175-0 by Anthony Stackaluse of the Rhode Island School for the Deaf in 1969.
