Fuamatu chosen girls All-NWADG Athlete of the Year

NWA Democrat-Gazette/DAVID GOTTSCHALK Chastery Fuamatu, of Gentry, was chosen All-NWADG Athlete of the Year and photographed Thursday, May 24, in Springdale.
NWA Democrat-Gazette/DAVID GOTTSCHALK Chastery Fuamatu, of Gentry, was chosen All-NWADG Athlete of the Year and photographed Thursday, May 24, in Springdale.

Girls Athlete of the Year: CHASTERY FUAMATU

SCHOOL: Gentry

CLASS: Senior

HEIGHT: 5-10

POSITION: Shot put/discus

THE SCOOP: Broke the Class 4A state record and the state overall record in the girls shot put with her throw of 44 feet, 2.5 inches during the Class 4A state meet at Pocahontas. She broke the previous Class 4A mark of 41-9.5 set by Sarah Pfeifer of Ozark in 2001 and the previous overall mark of 44-0.5 set by Rogers' Heather Lakey in 1997. ... Also won the Class 4A state title in the girls' discus with a 128-4, making her a two-time state champion in both events. ... Won the Meet of Champs girls discus title with a throw of 138-6, which was the state's best performance this spring. ... Broke the state indoor meet record for Class 1A-4A schools in the shot put with a throw of 42-3.25. ... Signed a national letter of intent in April to throw the discus and shot put at Arkansas State.

DID YOU KNOW: Fuamatu was a true multi-sport athlete during her high school career at Gentry. She played volleyball in the fall, basketball in the winter (she averaged 7 points per game and led the Lady Pioneers in rebounding and free-throw attempts) and split her duties between soccer (as a goalkeeper) and track in the spring.

QUOTABLE: "I think it's crazy. It just doesn't seem real to me," Fuamatu said. "I was just going in there trying to break the Class 4A state record because I had thrown around 42 feet, but nothing past that. When I first saw that I had broken the overall state record, I thought it was crazy until I went and looked up the record.

"On my last throw, I thought I had just thrown about 41 feet, and I was shaking my head. I was going over to shag my shot, and when they announced '44-3,' I stopped, and I thought to myself 'Did they really just say that?' They called officials over to measure it again. I didn't know my coach was recording it, and I was trying not to freak out. It was crazy."

-- Henry Apple • @NWAHenry

Sports on 06/13/2018