SANTIAGO de CALI, COLOMBIA – On the heels of quite an entertaining World Outdoor Championships last week, comes the eye-catching world debut for some of the country’s best younger track and field stars at the World U20 Outdoor Championships. From Aug. 1-6, U.S. high schoolers and collegians will compete among the best U20 athletes in the world in Colombia to cap off the 2022 outdoor season, including Cade Moran of Murrieta.
Moran is one of the more well-known local, and now national, high school names from this past track and field season, especially in the shot put and discus events. Competing out of Murrieta Mesa High School for the past four years, Moran finished fourth in the shot put and seventh in the discus at the 2022 Nike Outdoor Nationals; third in the shot put at the 2022 Nike Indoor Nationals and fourth at the shot put at the 2022 New Balance Nationals Indoors; runner-up in the shot put at The Outdoor Nationals 2021 and placed 19th in the discus; won the 2021 CIFSS Division 1 Finals in the shot put and finished runner-up in the discus; won the California State Championships in the shot put in both 2021 and 2022, and in the discus took second in 2022 and third in 2021.
In 2022, the recent graduate was the top-ranked California high schooler in both the indoor and outdoor shot put and the discus, ranking No. 3 nationally in the discus, No. 7 in the outdoor shot put and No. 9 in the indoor shot put. Currently, Moran ranks No. 17 in the world on the U20 list for the six-kilogram shot put. Moran’s career bests include Shot Put (HS) — 66-10; Shot Put (U20) — 62-10; Discus (HS) — 207-4; Discus (U20) — 175-5; Weight Throw (HS) — 62-9.5.
After he finished runner-up in the shot put and seventh in the discus at the 2022 USATF U20 Championships this past June, Moran earned a spot to represent Team USA in the shot put at the World U20 Championships. Events began this week in Cali, Colombia, the sports city of the world that previously hosted the 2015 World Athletics U18 Championships. More than 1,500 athletes from all continents will strive to bring about their best competitive drive in this unique cultural, technological, athletic and social environment.
For more information, or to follow other athletes from California, visit the World U20 Outdoor Championships online at www.worldatheltics.org. If there are other local athletes competing, please send athlete info to our staff via the email info below.
JP Raineri can be reached by email at sports@reedermedia.com.
