This past weekend, Matt Charpentier of York High School put together an all time great
performance at the Maine Class B Outdoor State Championships. In the shot put, Charpentier
came in with a mark of 54°11.5" inches, which was the third best mark in the state this outdoor
season and tops in Class B. He had the meet won with a throw of 54'8" in the second round of the competition, then
unleashed a lifetime best mark of 59'1" on his final attempt just missing the Class B record of 59'1 3/4. Charpentier won the competition by nearly eleven feet,
setting the state lead in the event this spring, and is now the eighth best performer in outdoor
state history. He also won the state title in the discus with a throw of 162'11", just off of his state leading mark of 163°4" that he set earlier in the spring at his home ring. This is just his second year throwing discus, and he won the state title by over 30 feet.
Charpentier is still a junior who has an entire year left to take his high school throwing career
to greater heights, and it seems as though he made the right call joining the track and field team
his freshman year.
"I began my throwing career during my freshman year in the indoor season. I was always
interested in learning more about track and throwing, but basketball had been my winter sport
since third grade," said Charpentier.
"I had played varsity football my freshman year, and I
wasn't sure I wanted another high stress season in the winter so I thought about track because my
older brother did it. I had friends tell me that I shouldn't do track and that I should continue
playing basketball. I ignored them and signed up for track."
After following his heart and committing to joining the track and field team at York High
School, he saw for himself that throwing was the right fit for him.
"I began doing pretty well for myself, then began getting much better. I competed at states as a
freshman and placed 7th with a throw of 42'4. I knew right then and there that I had a bright
future in track. That's what gave me the motivation to keep going."
York's rising star did just that. His sophomore year, he threw 52'7 1/4" to place second at the
Class B outdoor state championships, and won the discus title with a throw of 152'10". He would then throw 56'6.25" to win the shot put at the Class B indoor state championships this
past winter.
This means today, Matt Charpentier is a four time state champion. But he's not done
yet.
Charpentier will be competing in the shot put and discus at the New England Outdoor Track
and Field Championships this Saturday in New Britain, CT, and he has goals of improving on
his lifetime best.
"I'm hoping to end this season with a 60 to 61 foot throw."
60 feet is a huge milestone for shot
putters in the state of Maine. There have been only four shot putters in Maine outdoor state
history that have surpassed 60', seven combined including Ed Bogdanovich of Portland with his
throw of 62'1" in 1977 at the indoor SMAA Championships at the Portland Expo, Austin Lufkin
of Brewer with his throw of 62'2.25" in 2017 at New Balance Indoor Nationals, and Joshua Bradford of Falmouth with his throw of 61'2.25" in 2020 at Dartmouth Relays.
Matt Charpentier as a Junior has already established himself as one of the best throwers Maine
has ever seen, and with one more year to improve, the sky's the limit for him in both the shot put
and the discus.