Jackson Cantwell misses Michael Carter's national shot put record by 1 centimeter, sets MSHSAA Championships mark

Cantwell hasn't completely closed the door on returning for his senior season after throw of 76 feet, 11 1/4 inches falls a centimeter short of national all-time mark

Nixa's Jackson Cantwell (left) is congratulated by junior teammate Hayden Mays while officials in the background mark the spot after Cantwell's throw in the MSHSAA Championships on Saturday, May 31, 2025, at Adkins Stadium in Jefferson City, Missouri. The throw wound up becoming No. 2 all-time in NFHS history, missing Michael Carter's national mark of 77-0 by a centimeter. / Levi Payton

If football is a game of inches, throwing the shot put is a game of centimeters.

The greatest athletes of all-time seem to share a common trait: they're never satisfied. Even at their best, they always want more. In most cases, it's because they know they can.

Jackson Cantwell carries those traits. On Saturday, even when his best was better than nearly anyone who has ever thrown the shot put in a high school competition, he was still wanting more.

"The second (throw) was even better, honestly," Cantwell said, wishing he could have that one back. "It was just out of bounds."

The 6-foot-8, 320 pound Nixa junior said that after he'd just won the Missouri Class 5 shot put championship for the third consecutive year, and did so with one of the greatest outdoor throws high school competition has ever seen. Cantwell's throw of 76 feet, 11 1/4 inches, or 23.45m, fell 1 centimeter shy of breaking Michael Carter's NFHS national record of 77-0. Carter, who prepped at Dallas Jefferson, set it back in 1979 in Denton, Texas.

Like Cantwell, a five-star football recruit committed to play offensive line for the Miami Hurricanes, Carter was also a gridiron hero who played collegiately at SMU and then went on to star at nose tackle in the NFL with the 49ers - winning three Super Bowls over a nine-year career while also becoming the first person to ever win a Super Bowl and an Olympic medal in the same season (1984).

Jackson Cantwell signals to the crowd after he smashed the Missouri state record in the shot put and finished No. 2 nationally all-time with a throw of 76 feet, 11 1/4 inches on Saturday, May 31, 2025 at the MSHSAA Track and Field Championships at Adkins Stadium in Jefferson City. / Levi Payton

It took MSHSAA officials more than 2 minutes from the time they began marking the spot (using eyeballs and a tape measure) to determine its final resting place. That's partially because the throw went so far. It nearly hit a fence at the far end of the pit and landed in a spot that, obviously, nobody else had ever reached before.

Cantwell acknowledged the human element, but shrugged it off.

"Something about that sometimes. You never know," Cantwell said. "And either way it was a fantastic throw. I'm never gonna complain about a massive (personal best). but I mean, the human error is a real element of track and field."

Cantwell's throw had some extra meaning for his father, 2008 Olympic shot put silver medalist Christian Cantwell. It came at Jefferson City's Adkins Stadium, on the campus of Jefferson City High School where Christian prepped.

Christian was on hand, as was Jackson's mother, Teri Steer-Cantwell - a Nebraska native and Southern Methodist University Hall of Famer - to witness Jackson's historic throw. Teri was plenty salty with the shot put herself. She finished ninth at the World finals in 1999, 22nd in the Olympic finals in 2000, and threw a personal best 19.21m in 2001.

Christian was on hand, as usual, to watch Jackson's historic throw.

"Part of me forever wanted him to come back and go to school here, or near here even," Christian Cantwell said after watching Jackson win on Saturday. "But, ultimately, he wanted to stay (at Nixa)."

We'll have more on the father and son in the coming days.

The Cantwells weren't the only contingency there. The scene was unlike anything in recent memory at the MSHSAA Championships. It was hard to find a place along the railing well before throwers even began their warmups. By the time it was Jackson's turn to throw, you couldn't hardly move an inch without bumping into your neighbor.

Jackson Cantwell's warmups drew an oversized crowd at the 2025 MSHAA Track and Field Championships in Jefferson City. His father, Olympic silver medalist Christian Cantwell (standing in the upper deck and wearing all red) watches on. / Levi Payton

It was akin to jockeying for a good position at your favorite sold-out concert. Or to the pandemonium that ensues anytime Tiger Woods tees off. Everyone just had to see it. Cantwell's family included.

"Too much," Jackson joked when asked if he had a lot of supporters on hand. "Everybody I could think of is here. I couldn't even name them all: aunts, uncles, yeah ... grandparents, all that good stuff."

The throw that still had Jackson quietly stewing was his second heave in Flight 2. And it was a doozy. It would have cleared his winning throw - if it had counted. The ball, which nearly struck the fencing at the far end of the pit, kissed the line in the left sector as it came down.

The throw that won it all was more down the middle, and still almost clanked off the fencing.

"That's something I've been trying to mess with throughout the year," Cantwell said while explaining the timing and rotation he needs in his mechanics to get off such a throw. "It's gotten better progressively. Learning to adapt to the meet and my technique has been a struggle, but one I'm happy to take on."

The newest Missouri record and championship throw came a day after Cantwell won state in the discus. The 6-foot-8, 320 pound junior heaved it 210 feet, 3/16 inches, or 64.14m. He bested teammate and fellow junior Hayden Mays, who took second with a throw of 194-9, or 59.36m. Mays, as he has done at most every meet all season, also took second in the shot put (60-2, or 18.34m).

Another thing the great ones do is find things, big or small, that motivate them. Cantwell seems to check that box as well. While he ultimately reset the 2025 national high four different times in the shot put this year, Cantwell noticed that his throw last week in the Class 5 Sectionals was inaccurately posted at 23.30m. He said the throw was actually 22.30m, which was not the PR he'd been longing to hit.

It bugged him all week. Then Saturday's throw rendered it moot.

"It felt good to actually get that, because I actually felt like I was getting taunted a little bit last week," Jackson said with smile. "I was like, I was looking for a PR for a year and a month and they put one in that wasn't even a PR, so I was like, 'I need to get one now.'"

Did he ever. You can see Cantwell's throw in our video below. Note the fence at the back of the pit and how dangerously close he came to creating even more pandemonium.

It's unclear how a tape-measure would judge a ball that rams off of a fence, but, thankfully, MSHSAA officials narrowly missed answering that question in 2025.

And while he took it all professionally and in stride, you could tell the official measurement - and being that close to the national record - didn't sit well with the motivated youngster. He still plans on this being his final MSHSAA competition and still has plans to enroll early at Miami next season. But Cantwell didn't completely slam the door on the possibility of coming back for one more crack at Carter's record.

"I can still edit my classes until September, so we'll see," Cantwell said. "I don't, I don't know if I want to yet, because honestly, the football stuff at the end of the day, it's what I'm here to do. It's my passion and my purpose in life.

"But I think, I mean, it would be pretty cool to try and chase a really far mark," Cantwell added. "U.S. No. 2 was my goal for this year. I finally got there at the end. But, I mean, it's not far off from like being able to do something really, really historic. So having that opportunity, I didn't know if I would, honestly.

"I mean, my season so far, to be honest, I was a little disappointed with how I'd done."

Remember: the great ones aren't known for resting on their laurels, or being content. Now that Cantwell has reached his goal of U.S. No. 2, he doesn't sound like someone who's content with No. 2.

"That is probably like, 77-high," Cantwell said, still stewing on the behemoth throw that hit the line. "I'm sure it was something like that. I absolutely can still throw that down. I mean, it was weird, because my practice has been pretty terrible lately.

"So we'll see," Cantwell said. "We'll see how that goes."

Jackson Cantwell removes the tape from his wrist after what could be the final throw of his high school career at Nixa after winning the 2025 MSHAA Class 5 championship in the shot put. / Levi Payton

Being one of the most sought-after football recruits in the highly-competitive college football world, and the distractions that come with it, probably didn't help his production in the early portion of this season. Now that he's gotten all of the hoopla out of the way, Cantwell feels like he can finally be at ease.

"For me, not having to worry about making that major decision, it really allowed me to kind of focus in on track and try to focus on what you need to do," Cantwell said. "And I think I'm throwing a lot better in the postseason because of that, or at least had more clarity.

"I think the recruiting stuff didn't help, but at the end of the day, I think I got past that and I think I got better."

While his career at Nixa might be done, Cantwell definitely isn't finished throwing. He said he will compete at Nike Outdoor Nationals this year with the goal of breaking the U.S. record. And we know how he is about reaching goals.

"I've got all of my stuff where I'm going to enroll at semester," Cantwell said. "So my last high school track meet will likely be Nike Outdoor Nationals. I will not be throwing the disc. I'll be throwing the U20 shot, and then high school shot. I just want to see if I can break the American record, so we'll see how that goes."

Sporting a good sense of humor and upbeat nature throughout it all, Cantwell had one parting nugget for what he called the "throws nerds" such as himself.

"That's an 18-foot stand conversion today, which is ridiculous," Cantwell added. "I don't think there's, I don't know anyone that's done more than that.

"I'm either a really bad standing thrower or like a really good technician with the full throw. It could be both, honestly. I think that might be the answer."

On Saturday, Jackson Cantwell was the answer.

Jackson Cantwell poses for MSHSAA photographers with the sign bearing the stats from his record-breaking throw on Saturday, May 31, 2025, in the MSHSAA Class 5 Championships in Jefferson City. / Levi Payton

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