Bloomfield senior working hard to place at state in shot put

AZTEC

With her final track and field season under way, Bloomfield’s Connie Viramontes is sitting cozy.

The Bloomfield senior thrower set her personal best in the girls’ shot-put event at the Aztec Top Gun meet last Thursday with a throw of 36 feet, 2 inches.

Viramontes said she’s working to better her marks as the season progresses.

“I’m trying to PR every single time,” she said.

Viramontes qualified for the state meet in the first competition of the season, throwing 34-01. The state qualification for Class 5A girls is 31-9.

In Aztec, before the finals, her best throw, which was in the second round, was 35-feet flat. That throw became her PR until she reached the finals.

She out-threw Class 6A senior Callahan Franklin from Cleveland, who finished second with a 33-10 throw, and Aztec freshman Karen Avina, who threw a 33-02.25.

The successful start to Viramontes’ senior season is different than last season. Viramontes said last year it took her all season to qualify for state. In fact, she didn’t qualify until the final district meet.

She changed her approach and work ethic and has made this season vastly different than the one before.

“My coaches, they’ve been helping me and I’ve been there (at practice) since the preseason,” she said. “My family has also been pushing me to get the steps down, because I’ve struggled a little bit on the steps last year.”

Bloomfield track and field coach Robert Griego said there were a number of factors that led to Viramontes’ early success this season.

He said she has put in the work but she’s also a veteran of the sport.

“Her experience from last year really helped in qualifying for state last year,” he said. “Coming in this year she kind of knew what she needed to do, she’s worked hard in the weight room, worked hard in the offseason.”

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