TUCSON — Three American record holders and a host of Olympic and World Championships medalists and veterans in the throws and jumps headline Saturday's USATF Throws Festival at the University of Arizona's Drachman Stadium, a World Athletics Continental Tour Silver event and the seventh stop on the 2026 USATF Tour.
Sam Mattis broke a 45-year-old American record in the men's discus with his massive 72.45/237-8 at the Oklahoma Throws World Invitational on April 9 and he tops a field that includes two-time U.S. champion Reggie Jagers, the 2019 Pan American Games bronze medalist and unofficial left-handed world record holder with a 69.16/226-11 PB. Jamaica's Chad Wright was an Olympic finalist at Tokyo in 2021 and has competed at four World Championships. Wright set his lifetime best of 67.92/222-10 in mid-April at age 35.
Hammer competitions for men and women are loaded with the elite of American throwing, headed by American record holders Rudy Winkler and DeAnna Price. Winkler, a three-time Olympian and five times a World Championships team member, set the current AR of 83.16/272-10 to win the 2025 Prefontaine Classic, and he sits atop the 2026 U.S. list with an 80.60/264-5 that won the USATF Winter Long Throws Championships at this facility in March. He will face the No. 5 all-time American performer, Daniel Haugh, who was the 2023 Pan American Games silver medalist, along with Alex Young and Trey Knight. Knight was the runner-up at the Long Throws Championships in March, while Young was a 2021 Olympian and has competed at three World Championships.
Price set the AR of 80.31/263-6 to win the 2021 Olympic Trials, and she was the 2019 World Championships gold medalist. She has three Olympics and five World Championships teams to her credit. Brooke Andersen was the world champion in 2022 and leads this year's U.S. list at 78.56/257-9, a mark that won the Drake Relays last month. Paris Olympic Games silver medalist Annette Echikunwoke opened her season with a PB of 75.51/247-9 and is the No. 8 all-time American performer.
Two other all-time U.S. top 10 performers, Rachel Richeson and Erin Reese, are also scheduled to compete. Richeson won the Long Throws Championships here in March and is the No. 3 all-time U.S. thrower at 78.80/258-6, while Reese recently improved her PB to 76.76/251-10 to move to sixth on the all-time list. International flavor will be provided by a pair of Chinese stars, Jie Zhao and Jiale Zhang. Zhao earned bronze at Paris in 2024 and was the World Championships silver medalist last year, while Zhang picked up bronze behind her in 2025 at age 18.
Another bronze medalist from last year's World Championships in Tokyo, Curtis Thompson, will go head-to-head again in the men's javelin with Marc Anthony Minichello. They are 1-2 on the 2026 U.S. list, and Thompson is the No. 3 all-time American with a best of 87.76/287-11. He won the Drake Relays title in April at 84.63/277-8, but Minichello was chomping at his heels as he claimed a lifetime best of 84.11/275-11. Minichello was the runner-up at the Tokyo Continental Tour Gold event last weekend.
Undefeated in 2026, Madison Wiltrout has the hot hand in the women's javelin and is coming off her third PB of the year, a 63.83/209-5 to win the prestigious Halle Werfertage meet in Germany last weekend. That mark solidified her claim to the No. 6 all-time U.S. performer spot, and she also took the Long Throws Championships title here in March. Two-time NCAA champion Rhema Otabor of the Bahamas is her strongest competition, boasting a PB of 64.19/210-7, and Maddie Harris was the 2023 USATF champion and Pan American Games bronze medalist.
Reigning USATF outdoor champion Josh Awotunde leads the entries in the men's shot put with a PB of 22.47/73-8.75 that won him the national gold last year. Awotunde earned bronze at the 2022 World Championships as part of the U.S. sweep of the medals. The No. 5 all-time American, Payton Otterdahl, opens his season here and has a PB of 22.59/74-1.5. Otterdahl was second behind Awotunde at last year's USATF Championships and was just off the podium at Paris in 2024, placing fourth at his second Olympic Games. Last year's NCAA champion, Jason Swarens, has a PB of 21.37/70-1.5 and is an up-and-coming competitor on the U.S. scene.
Jayden Ulrich is the third best American all-time performer in the women's discus with a PB of 69.39/227-8 from last year and was an Olympian at Paris in 2024. She takes on Gabi Jacobs, the No. 6 all-time American and a 2025 World Championships team member with a PB of 68.21/223-9. Jamaica's Samantha Hall has won four titles in her home country and was a finalist at the 2025 World Championships, and France's Amanda Ngandu-Ntumba is a rising star in her nation after making their World Championships squad last year.
Ranked third on the all-time U.S. women's shot put list with a PB of 20.45/67-1/25, Maggie Ewen is a four-time World Championships competitor who was fourth in 2019 at Doha. She also made the 2017 Worlds team in the hammer. USATF Indoor Championships silver medalist Abria Smith went on to place seventh at the World Indoor Championships and has a best of 19.23/63-1.25, while Adelaide Aquilla-Brownley was an Olympian at Paris in 2021 and is 10th on the all-time U.S. list at 19.64/64-5.25. Jessica Ramsey was the 2021 Olympic Trials champion and is one of seven American women ever to throw 20m or farther, sporting a PB of 20.12/66-0.25.
Only 10 American women have ever cleared 2.00/6-6.75 or higher in the high jump, and two of them will be on the apron here. Future Hall of Famer Vashti Cunningham, a three-time Olympian, has won 16 U.S. indoor and outdoor national titles and was the 2016 World Indoor champion at age 18. She has a PB of 2.02/6-7.5 and ranks fourth on the all-time U.S. list. Rachel Glenn was a two-time NCAA champion and made the 2024 U.S. Olympic team, and she is tied for seventh on the all-time American performer list with a PB of 2.00/6-6.75. Arizona junior Emma Gates was on the 2025 World Championships team and last weekend earned silver at the Big 12 Championships. Veterans Inika McPherson, a 2016 Olympian who at age 39 is still competitive, and 2023 Pan American Games gold medalist Rachel McCoy are also scheduled to jump.
The men's long jump has an array of American talent that includes the silver and bronze medalists from this year's USATF Indoor Championships. 2024 Olympian Jeremiah Davis was the runner-up at Staten Island and finished fifth at the World Indoor Championships. He has a lifetime best of 8.37/27-5.5 from 2023. Isaac Grimes, the bronze medalist, was a World Championships team member last year and has a PB of 8.35/27-4.75. 2016 World Indoor champion and 2021 Olympian Marquis Dendy is still surpassing 8.00/26-3 at age 33, and he has World Indoor bronzes from 2018 and 2022 to go with his 8.42/57-7.5 PB. Two-time U.S. champion Will Williams was eighth at the 2023 World Championships and has made three straight world outdoor teams.
2024 NCAA indoor and outdoor pole vault champion Keaton Daniel just missed the Olympic team that year after placing fourth at the Trials. He is one of a large group of American men with similar lifetime bests who will try to manage the tricky winds at Drachman Stadium. Among the top contenders are this year's NCAA indoor champion, Ashton Barkdull, 2019 World Championships finalist Cole Walsh, and Tray Oates.