West Lafayette's George Karlaftis repeats as shot put state champion

BLOOMINGTON — George Karlaftis knew this was it.

The West Lafayette junior will graduate early as a senior and enroll at Purdue University, where he'll compete in football and shot put. 

He will not compete in basketball or track and field, as he has done his first three years of high school.

So, as the defending shot put state champion, he saw there was only one way to go out.

With a throw of 60 feet, one-half inch, Karlaftis repeated as state champion in the shot put.

ONE YEAR AGO:WL's George Karlaftis wins shot put state title

MORE:Redemption for West Lafayette state championship relay team

"You've got a weight on your shoulders (as defending champion)," Karlaftis said. "It makes it more interesting for me and brings the competition out of me, too."

Last year, Karlaftis won with a throw of 59 feet, 5 1/2 inches. 

This year, the Red Devils added former Purdue All-American thrower Chuk Enekwechi to the coaching staff and he was able to fine tune Karlaftis' technique.

"He wasnt very smooth," Enekwechi said, "As big as he is, he is young, so he is going to improve naturally. One thing I worked on with him was the rhythm of the throw and being extended. George is about 6-4, 270 pounds. I am 25 years old and I am not that big. He is still growing into his body and because of that, he is clumsy, but he is powerful."

So with better positioning, Karlaftis eclipsed a 60-foot mark he'd been chasing since his freshman year. 

It concludes a busy week for Karlaftis, who was recently selected to compete in next year's Army All-American Bowl. This week, he signed signed the paper work to confirm his participation in the event.

"It is awesome to be an Army All-American," Karlaftis said. "Every high schooler would love to play in that. I would like to be one of those guys who goes on to the NFL or is up for Heisman or that kind of stuff."

But for the time being, he said his focus was "100 percent on track."

And it showed.

The best throw of his career was his final one, albeit one that didn't count.

It sailed well beyond the 60-foot mark but Karlaftis stepped out of the ring after the release. 

It didn't matter.

"The way I look at it is he won, period," Enekwechi said. "If he won with 12 feet, I'll take it. This is the state meet. And it's his last one, so he wanted to win and I wanted him to win."