Hayden Bills broke MN's shot put record in May, looks to set new record at state

ROSEMOUNT, Minn. -- It's a sport for a particular kind of athlete -- throwing a shot or a discus as far as possible.

"I like the fact that it's not like football. I mean, you can go online and see what everyone else is throwing," said Hayden Bills, a senior at Rosemount High School. "You can't blame it on a team, you can't blame it on anything else. It's just you versus other people."

Minnesota has never had a better high school shot put thrower than Bills.

"I definitely like to knock people down below me," said Bills, who is committed to throw for Arizona State next year. "That's a fun thing to do. Especially when you PR and you see, ope I'm moving up. Yeah, it's definitely something I chase."

This May, Bills destroyed the state shot put record with a throw of 66' 8.75.

"It was definitely something that I was looking forward to probably since I started throwing," Bills said. "You look at marks that other people throw, and it's like 'oh I'll never be there.' And then when you're getting close it kinda comes full circle. It's fun to see."

Bills is not far from the best ever discus throw, too, a discipline where he's the defending state champ. He's the favorite in both events at state this week. His goal is to be the greatest prep thrower that Minnesota has ever had.

"Yeah it definitely is," Bills said. "But then after that, I think it's cool that when the throwers, younger guys look at the state records and stuff like that, they can chase me for a while. Hopefully I stay up there for a little bit before someone else breaks it but we'll see."

Rosemount has something special going up on the hill -- the program has a long history of great boys and girls throwers.

"Every place we go he sets a record for that meet or this meet or this stadium," said Tim Conboy, the Rosemount throws coach. "I would say as far as talent-wise, when you look at performances, he's our number one thrower in the history of the school."