Lifelong buddies have strong shot to finish side-by-side at state championships
Track and Field coverage sponsored by ATT Sports., Inc.
By Julie Pelchar Cohen — MikeDragoSports.com senior correspondent
Brady Mider and Alex Witmer were typical schoolboy friends glued together by shared interests and experiences.
They walked the halls together at La Salle Academy in Shillington.
They were teammates in CYO basketball who enjoyed sleepovers and video games.
“We were hip to hip,” Mider said, “always right next to each other.”
While their close friendship has endured into high school at Berks Catholic what has unfolded throughout the spring goes against anything that makes sense.
It would be interesting enough if each discovered a love for heaving a dusty shot put day after day.
But what is nothing short of mind-boggling is that the lifelong buddies have developed into two of the best high school shot putters in Pennsylvania.
The best friends carry the top two Class 3A seeds heading into this weekend’s PIAA Track and Field Championships at Shippensburg University. Mider is first and Witmer second.
Since their days playing football, basketball and lacrosse at La Salle, the boys have come as far as their throws to reach the pinnacle of Pennsylvania high school track and field.
“Going in as the one and two seeds,” Witmer said, “is honestly crazy.”
Just as Mider and Witmer have been side by side year after year, Berks Catholic’s shot put kings will chase state glory together when the 25-boy shot put field starts throwing Friday afternoon at 12:30.
Half of the field events will be contested Friday with the remaining on Saturday. All track finals except the 1600, which kicks off the championships Friday, will be held Saturday.
“I’ve known this kid since kindergarten,” Witmer said. “We go way back. It’s just two best friends getting in the work every day. We push each other. It’s great.”
Mider produced a breakthrough sophomore season, taking District 3 and PIAA silver, that was overshadowed by Wyomissing’s Jven Williams and his record-setting spring. Mider took it to another level over the winter, winning the state indoor title with a career-best 61-4 and placing second at Nike Indoor Nationals.
Mider carried the big heaves into the outdoor season.
As the state’s top-ranked shot putter all spring, Mider finished fourth at the prestigious Penn Relays. He swept the shot put and discus at the Firing Meet, where he threw an outdoor personal best 59-4, and won a pair of gold medals at last weekend’s District 3 championships. He threw a career-best 161-1 in the discus.
Witmer, a senior, has been ranked in Pennsylvania’s top 20 throughout the spring. He uncorked a big one to earn silver at districts, a personal-best heave of 55-3 1⁄4 that catapulted him into the second slot for this weekend’s championships. PIAA seeds are based on district marks.
With Mider as the heavy favorite for gold, Witmer will face stiff competition with the best of the rest.
Seven boys recorded district throws within three feet of Witmer’s seed mark.
Mider and Witmer have reached this highest echelon under the care of Trevor Stutzman at Garage Strength.
Stutzman, a former district shot put and discus champion for Kutztown and Division III All-American at Messiah College, heads the high school program at Garage Strength, the Fleetwood facility that produces district and state throws champions year after year.
“They are two of the best training partners that have come through here,” Stutzman said.
The boys have been pushing each other since they started training together several years ago.
Mider initially joined Garage Strength to improve his strength and skills for basketball.
However, action outside the gym caught his eye when he was in eighth grade. Throwers practice next to the parking lot and just a big put from the traffic zooming by on Route 222.
“I saw a bunch of people throwing outside,” Mider said. “My dad said, ‘I wonder what that is,’ and I said I have no idea.”
Garage Strength owner Dane Miller asked Mider if he’d like to throw.
“I started throwing the next day,” Mider said. “I haven’t stopped since.”
The pandemic hit shortly after he threw his first shot but Mider continued to learn. He’d travel alone to Gov. Mifflin’s shot put circle and train with Stutzman over Zoom calls.
Meanwhile, Witmer was looking for a way to spend time after the pandemic canceled his freshman lacrosse season.
“I saw Brady over quarantine working out here and getting really good at track,” Witmer said. “I figured I was decent in eighth grade, so why not give it another shot. Eventually, I found myself here (at Garage Strength) and it’s been track the rest of the way.”
While Mider consistently throws several feet farther than Witmer, Stutzman makes it a daily competition between the boys.
“I’ll either have Brady throw a shot that’s a little heavier and then they can go head to head,” Stutzman said, “or I’ll say ‘Wit’ gets a three-foot handicap. It keeps it entertaining.”
Witmer attributes his improvement to chasing Mider.
“He throws so far,” Witmer said. “I like to see how close I can get to him. Honestly, him throwing so far pushes me to reach distances that I never thought I could do before.”
Witmer’s heel-nipping keeps Mider honest.
“Him pushing me definitely makes me push myself to do the best that I can,” Mider said. “I don’t want to slip up and have him catch me. He just keeps pushing me. It definitely helps to keep me working my tail off as much as I can.”
Stutzman said the daily competition never gets ugly. There’s never been a testy moment between these shot putting giants.
The relationship is nothing but mutual admiration and respect.
“I wish I had Brady’s composure,” Witmer said. “No matter what the situation is, I feel like he always comes through.”
Mider admires Witmer’s fiery drive.
“I have a good commitment,” Mider said, “but as soon as Wit finds a target he really wants to push after it and get after it. When I talk to him outside of Garage Strength, he’s telling me how he wants to hit this number and that number.
“He’s committed. He’s always going after what he wants to get. It’s non-stop and he’ll do whatever he can to get where he wants to be.”
The Berks Catholic boys want to find themselves on the top two podium steps at Seth Grove Stadium this weekend.
The big throws. The medals. State glory.
The banter between the buddies always circles back to track in a friendship further solidified by sharing thousands of throws in a shared pursuit.
“Every night on Xbox,” Witmer said, “we are always talking about shot. Always.”
This weekend, they’ll look to write a story to talk about for decades to come.
“If we could get it done,” Mider said, referring to winning gold and silver medals, “that would be awesome.”
