By Rich Winter

605 Sports

When you think about boys sports at White River high school the first thing you think about is not boys shot put. 

White River junior Ethan Watson is hoping to put a dent in the basketball legacy Eldon Marshall has built and he started that journey Friday when he finished third in the Class B boys shot put (49-9.5). 

“I’ve improved a lot this year and my only real goals were making it to state and then placing at state,” Watson said. 

A football player and wrestler prior to falling in love with the throws, Watson is not fully concentrating on becoming the best thrower he can be. 

“He’s got all of the equipment at home and he spends a lot of time working on getting better,” Brandon Watson, Ethan’s father said.

Some of those improvements have come in the White River gym where Watson is now a chiseled young man in a 6-foot-2 frame. 

“The weight room, that’s an everyday thing now,” Watson said. “I have to live in the weight room and I enjoy putting in that work because I know it makes me better.”  

Watson has come a long way this season. At his first outdoor meet he finished second with a toss of 43-6. 

The increments have come in leaps and bounds during the 2023 outdoor season. Six inches here, a foot there and Watson is creeping up on the hallowed 50-foot mark. 

And he’s fallen in love with the sport.

“I just love this sport,” he said. “It’s all on you and if you mess up you gotta figure it out. You look at a big throw and I remind myself that I did that.”

A pretty special rivalry in the shot put has developed in the Western Great Plains Conference. Kadoka Area’s Lincoln Koehn won the discus Thursday and was fourth in the shot put Friday. He and Watson have been pushing each other all year and with both being juniors 2024 could see plenty of fireworks from both young men. 

“It’s really fun competing against him,” Watson said. “We have been battling at every track meet aidnd it’s either a couple feet one way or a couple feet the other. I love the rivalry and kind of growing together in the sport.”

Shortly after picking up his medal Watson said he will be looking to break the White River school record next season and also has a new goal of becoming a state champion.