King Rudy: How does he compare to fellow hammer/weight stars Henning and McCullough?

By Steve Underwood

After the pair of national hammer records that Rudy Winkler produced at West Point Tuesday, it seems fair to say that the Averill Park NY senior deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as the new millennium’s other two prep gods of ball-and-chain events, Walter Henning and Conor McCullough.  With their record-smashing and international performances over several years, Henning and McCullough brought unprecedented national attention to two events, the hammer and weight throw, that are not contested in many states.  It seems like a good time to take a look at and compare the prep careers of this mighty trio.

Walter Henning, St. Anthony's HS, NY
Prep Career: 2004-2007

Progression
Yr: HSHT/JrHT/SrHT/YHT/WT
2004: 193-2*/X/X/US#1 232-7**/X
2005: US#2 226-6*/US#4 180-9/X/X/US#1 75-0.5*
2006: US#1 (all) 252-6*/238-2*/210-11*/X/85-6**
2007: US#1 (all) 255-11**/241-5**/209-7/X/86-5.5**
*=set class USR, **=set USR

Titles
NON Ht: 2006-07
US Jr HT: 2006-07-08
Indoor WT: NIN & NSIC 2006-07

At World Junior/World Youth meets
2005 WYC: 8th
2006 WJC: 8th
2008 WJC: 1st

Walter Henning brought a ton of attention to the weight and hammer during his career, starting with his 8th-place hammer finish at the World Youth Champs in 2005 and accelerating with his frequent record-setting weight victories in the New York Armory – where he came from nearby St. Anthony’s HS and commanded the special throwers’ area at the facility.  It’s fair to say he became a fan favorite.  As a junior, Henning set national records in the weight, the Junior-weight hammer, and came close to the prep marks in the HS and Sr. hammer.  He won a slew of national titles and again represented Team USA, this time taking 8th at World Juniors – despite being one of the youngest athletes there.

So impressive was Henning’s senior year that he was named DyeStat’s and Track and Field News’s overall athlete of the year.  He repeated all of his titles from the previous year, improved his US records in the weight throw and Junior-weight hammer, and finally captured Josh Freeman’s USR in the prep hammer.  Finally, it should be mentioned here that when Henning returned to the World Youth Champs after his freshman year at North Carolina, he become the first American to win the title as he and prep Conor McCullough (see below) went 1-2.  Henning would eventually transfer to LSU and capture two NCAA weight titles and one hammer title before retiring after his senior year in 2011.


Conor McCullough, Chaminade HS, CA
Prep Career: 2006-2009

Progression
Yr: HSHT/JrHT/SrHT/YouthHT/WT
2006: US#5 213-0*/#3 203-11*/X/X/X
2007: US#2 243-11*/X/X/US#1 249-3*/X
2008: US#1(all) 260-0**/248-11**/X/263-9**/87-10.5**
2009: US#1(all) 256-9*/247-0*/219-7**/X/93-3.25**
*=set class USR, **=set USR

Titles
NON HT: None
US Jr HT: 2009-10
Indoor WT: NIN & NSIC 2008-09

At World Junior/World Youth meets
2007 WYC: 4th
2008 WJC: 2nd
2010 WJC: 1st

When you have an athlete like Walter Henning, who broke almost every weight and hammer record multiple times as a prep, you expect such standards to have some longevity.  You don’t expect a Conor McCullough to be waiting in the wings.  And, truth is, the tall Chaminade CA wunderkind began smashing records while Henning was still at St. Anthony’s.  As a soph in 2007, McCullough fired the Youth 5kg hammer 249-3 and placed a very impressive 4th at the World Youth Champs – four spots higher than Henning in 2005.  He gave Henning a good battle at Nike Outdoor, finishing just nine feet back, and in another meet set a US soph class record with the 12-pounder.

In 2008, McCullough took it to a new level, breaking Henning’s marks in the weight throw (winning both NIN and NSIC titles), and hammer (prep, Junior and his own Youth mark).  When he finished second to Henning at Juniors, Team USA had a mighty pair to battle for hammer medals at Worlds – and, lo and behold, Henning and McCullough took a glorious 1-2.  McCullough couldn’t quite top all of his own lofty standards as a senior in 2009, but he did crush the weight throw mark (will anyone ever beat his 93-3.25?) and then Josh Freeman’s lone remaining mark with the Senior hammer – hitting 219-7.

Finally, after his frosh campaign at Princeton the following spring, McCullough matched his old rival Henning and captured the second consecutive World Junior title for a Team USA hammer thrower.  At Princeton in 2012, McCullough ranked #6 in the US with a 242-9 best.  He now throws for Ireland, his family’s country of origin and which his father, Conor Sr., represented in the 1984 and 1988 Olympics.  The younger Conor, in fact, last year surpassed Dad for #4 on Ireland’s all-time list.


Rudy Winkler, Averill Park HS, NY
Prep Career: 2010-2013

Progression
Yr: HSHT/JrHT/SrHT/YHT/WT
2010: 183-10/X/X/X/62-8
2011: US#3 224-4/#2 218-1*/#2 186-2/#1 243-5/#4 74-2.5
2012: US#1(all) 251-1/240-1/198-8/X/80-11.75
2013: US#1(all) 260-5**/249-0**/X/X/83-6
*=set class USR, **=set USR

Titles
NBNO HT: 2011, 2013
US Jr HT: 2012-13
Indoor WT: NBNI 2011-12-13

At World Junior/World Youth meets
2011 WYC: 9th
2012 WJC: 11th

With those 260-5 and 249-0 marks from his July 2 outing, Rudy Winkler now has half of the records out there for prep hammer throwers.  According to hammer guru Bob Gourley (whose lists and statistics were invaluable for this story), Winkler is likely to throw in at least three more meets leading up to the Pan Am Juniors in late August – where he’d be throwing the 6kg Junior implement.  Besides preparing to throw that, he may try and extend his HSR with the 12-pounder and chase McCullough’s record (219-7) with the Senior 16-lb. implement – where Winkler’s best of 198-8 dates to last year.

Relative to his predecessors, Winker has the distinction of having won New Balance national titles in the weight and hammer as sophomore – and ever since – while the others didn’t top those podiums until their junior years.  Winkler has seven NB and Junior titles in the weight and hammer, despite not having the chance to throw in two indoor national meets for the weight that Henning and McCullough did.  On the other hand, Winkler hasn’t placed quite as high internationally as Henning and McCullough have and, due to turning 20 in late 2014, he will not have another shot at World Juniors as a college frosh like the other two did.  Pan Am Juniors could be his last meet before he becomes a senior – and begins competing for the Big Red of Cornell.

In the end, however you compare these giants of the ball and chain, fans and promulgators of these events have been thrilled over the past decade to see their forays into national and international greatness and see the events grow with it.  The weight and hammer have gotten increased attention, thanks not only to Winkler, McCullough and Henning, but also to Gourley, http://runnerspace.com/hshammer’s Martin Bingisser, Coach Mike Judge and his Throw 1 Deep Club in Georgia, and many others.  One can only hope there are some waiting in the wings to keep taking the events to new heights.