Dominic Weatherly went through his routine, stepped into the shot put circle, spun around and released the metal ball.

The spectators knew the moment the 12-pound implement splashed down that Weatherly had done something special, and they cheered to salute the L’Anse Creuse junior.

Weatherly’s heave traveled 54 feet, 4 inches, his personal record. It closed the preliminary round and made a formality of the finals at the Division 1 regional track and field meet at Romeo on Friday.

“The finish was so satisfying,” Weatherly said. “I knew it was something good as soon as it came off my fingers. It felt light, but it went so far. It was a great feeling.”

“When you get to that moment, everything clicks. You enjoy the ‘flow state.’”

Weatherly had the longest put in each of the three rounds of the finals, but none exceeded the 54-4. He later won the discus throw to become a two-time regional champ in both events.

Weatherly’s power, Shamar Heard’s speed and Thomas Westphal’s durability punctuated the boys competition where athletes qualified for the state finals that will be at East Kentwood on June 1.

Heard, a three-time state champion in open sprint events, won two individual events and anchored a pair of first-place Chippewa Valley relay teams.

Westphal achieved an individual triple, winning the 800, 1600 and 3200 meters, in the process scoring 30 of Anchor Bay’s 70 points. The state runner-up in the 1600 last year after winning regional titles in that race and the 3200, Westphal began his haul by finishing the 1600 in 4 minutes, 16.82 seconds. The Michigan State recruit then won the 800 in 1:53.72 and the 3200 in 9:28.96. The latter two races were run after the meet was interrupted by a lightning delay.

Troy Athens won the team championship with 82 points, two more than Chippewa Valley. Troy Athens’ lone first-place finish came in the 3200 relay.

The top two finishers in each event qualified for the finals. Others qualified by meeting standards set by the Michigan High School Athletic Association.

Mitchell Morrison of Anchor Bay finished first in the pole vault when he cleared 12-9.

Eisenhower finished first in three events, including the 4×100 relay. Bryce Hurley, who anchored the relay, won the 100 in 10.09 seconds, and Joshua White won the long jump at 21-3.5.

Corey Holmes, a teammate of Weatherly, won the high jump at 6-4.

Zachary Conley of Utica won the 110 high hurdles in 15.41, and Dakota’s Christopher Dotson won the 300 intermediate hurdles in 40.11.

Anchor Bay’s Luke Bowman won four adaptive events, the shot put and the 100, 200 and 400 dashes.

Heard ran a Chippewa Valley-record 46.80 to win the 400.

“All gas, into a headwind,” the senior said. “I knew it was going to be special after the first 150 (meters). Had to go out there and prove it.”

Heard won the 200 in 21.49.

Will Jones-Terrell, Chris Estell, Noah Morris and Heard finished the 4×200 relay in 1:26.73, which almost equaled the school mark of 1:26.41 set when the Big Reds won the event at the 2023 state championships.

“We’re coming together nicely, right on time when we need it,” Heard said.

Estell, Aaron Franz, Morris and Heard won the 4×400 relay in 3:16.88. Estell, Morris and Heard were on the team that finished third in the state last year.

Heard won Division 1 championships in the 100 and 200 as a sophomore, and the Tennessee recruit added the 400 to his collection of titles last year.

“I feel like I’ve had a high school runner’s dream winning the one, two and four,” Heard said. “I just want to enjoy my last season, my time with the guys. This is our last run, so I want to enjoy the moment with them.”

Before each throw, Weatherly lays down a towel and wipes off the bottoms of his shoes.

“I get paranoid about my feet slipping a bunch, because I’ve slipped a lot. I just get the towel down, wipe my feet off, do a little (simulated) toss and get myself in the right state of mind.”

Weatherly threw 46-10, 47-3.5 and 50-5.5 in the finals.

“It was a lot of work this year,” Weatherly said when asked about the challenge of backing up his 2023 regional performances. At the state meet last year, he didn’t place in the shot and took eighth in the discus at the state.

“I’m aiming for first,” he said of the 2024 finals. “I found a passion for the throws my freshman year, and I want to do the best that I can. States is there.”

Raine Redding added to L’Anse Creuse’s presence in the throwing events. The senior won the discus with a personal-record 112-8, an improvement of 10 feet over her 2023 regional mark.

“I’m excited, because last year I missed (the finals) by a foot,” Redding said. “I really pushed for it this year.”

Redding and Weatherly raised to six the number of regional throwing championships won by L’Anse Creuse since 2022.

“We’re like a close family,” Redding said.

In the boys meet, additional qualifiers advanced in the discus, 1600, 400, 800, 200, 3200 and 1600 relay.

Additional qualifiers in the girls meet came from the 3200 relay, high hurdles, and 3200.

Team scores

Troy Athens 82, Chippewa Valley 80, Anchor Bay 70, Romeo 69.5, Dakota 66.5, Eisenhower 66, Fraser 52, L’Anse Creuse 46, Utica 39, Ford 36, Stevenson 20, Port Huron Northern 17, Port Huron 6, Sterling Heights 5, L’Anse Creuse North 4.

State qualifiers

Shot put: Dominic Weatherly, LC, 54-4. Trevor LeMaigre, Fraser, 47-10.25.

Shot put adaptive: Luke Bowman, AB, 20-4.75.

Discus: Dominic Weatherly, LC, 160-10. Andrew Miller, Ford, 153-0. Trevor Siemen, Romeo, 149-11. Hayden Crum, Troy Athens, 148-10.

High jump: Corey Holmes, LC, 6-4. Keonte Riley, Fraser, 6-2.

Long jump: Joshua White, Eis, 21-3.5. Drew Graves, Ford, 21-1.23.

Pole vault: Mitchell Morrison, AB, 12-9. Jacob Mead, Fraser, 12-9.

3200-meter relay: Troy Athens (Nate Linden, Myles Linden, Dylan Esser, Jacob Esser) 7:54.12. Romeo (Vincent Guaresimo, Connor Clor, James Brickel, Bryce Goodsell) 7:56.52.

110 high hurdles: Zachary Conley, Utica, 15.41. Dereon Foster, Romeo, 15.44.

100 dash: Bryce Hurley, Eis, 10.96. Evan Watson, Troy Athens, 11.04.

100 adaptive: Luke Bowman, AB, 20.47.

800 relay: Chippewa Valley (Will Jones-Terrell, Chris Estell, Noah Morris, Shamar Heard) 1:26.73. Dakota (James Nash, Evan Combs, Momar Roberson-Wade, Cory Franklin) 1:31.64.

1600: Thomas Westphal, AB, 4:16.82. Vincent Guaresimo, Romeo, 4:21.32. Carter Fox, Dakota, 4:23.61.

400 relay: Eisenhower (David Scheel, Brody Kelsey, Joshua White, Bryce Hurley) 43.01. Chippewa Valley (Will Jones-Terrell, Duayne Johnson-Joplin, Eric Thomas Jr., Jailen Thomas) 43.71.

400 dash: Shamar Heard, CV, 46.80. Evan Watson, Troy Athens, 47.46. Chris Estell, CV, 49.28. Christian Wesley, Fraser, 50.26.

400 adaptive: Luke Bowman, AB, 1:10.24.

300 intermediate hurdles: Christopher Dotson, Dakota, 40.11. Vansh Baxi, Troy Athens, 40.53.

800: Thomas Westphal, AB, 1:53.72. Drew Graves, Ford, 1:55.11. Tyler Donovan, Fraser, 1:55.37. Bryce Goodsell, Romeo, 1:56.75.

200: Shamar Heard, CV, 21.49. Noah Morris, CV, 21.89. Bryce Hurley, Eis, 22.14. Chris Estell, CV, 22.40. Brody Kelsey, Eis, 22.43. Christian Wilson, Troy Athens, 22.47.

200 adaptive: Luke Bowman, AB, 36.10.

3200: Thomas Westphal, AB, 9:28.96. Carter Fox, Dakota, 9:30.23. Jacob Esser, Troy Athens, 9:30.42.

1600 relay: Chippewa Valley (Chris Estell, Aaron Franz, Noah Morris, Shamar Heard) 3:16.88. Troy Athens (Julian Farrell, Myles Linden, Ethan Bieniek, Evan Watson) 3:20.88. Ford (Diego Harden, Spencer Krause, Jonathan Mitchell, Drew Graves) 3:25.06. Fraser (Donovan Davis, Christian Wesley, Brady Slone, Tyler Donovan) 3:26.31. Dakota (James Nash, Cody Shene, Christopher Dotson, Evan Combs) 3:26.91.