Injured Shue repeats at Meet of Champions

Photo Credits: Peter Ackerman NorthJersey.com: Asbury Park Press

Shue repeats as discus champion despite injury woes

Shue is undoubtedly the best thrower in New Jersey. A 43-year-old North Jersey discus record? In the bag. 2024 New Balance Nationals? Of course, he brought home the title. 2024 State Meet of Champions? It was a given.

But a torn pectoral muscle has slowed down his trajectory. For the last four weeks, Shue has not practiced and his results, although still among New Jersey’s best, have significantly dropped. A 174-10 throw at the Gene “Red” Littler Bergen County Championships was still good for first place, but was over eight feet behind his throw at the league championship.

Teaneck’s Everton Bills outhrew Shue by over 13 feet at the Bergen Meet of Champions. Shue’s throw of 173-4 at the Non-Public A group meet led to just his third second-place finish at a New Jersey track and field meet in four years. Shue called his injury a guessing game. One day it would be great. Another day it wouldn’t. To repeat at SMOC, he needed luck to be on his side and a fast start to break his funk. He got both.

“I knew that if I was going to do something, I was going to have to put something out there first to set the tone. I feel like I did that today,” Shue said.

A throw of 186-11 set the standard. But the job wasn’t finished as Petter Donini, Anthony Liakhnovich, Capp DeShelpo and Bills remained in contention.

He paced back and forth between throws. His father, Bill, shouted instructions and guidance to him and Bills, who he helps train, to help with the process. Yet as the event continued, his chest pain got worse and worse, which resulted in shorter throws.

Liaknovich went close. Donini went closer and came within two feet of the Texas signee. It seemed inevitable that someone would catch the stricken Shue. But his first throw was enough to hold off the six from each of his close competitors for a first title in just under a month.

“I saw them bomb and I just got that feeling like when I’m about to wrestle or play a football game,” Shue said. “It wasn’t easy, but getting the first throw out of the way just took a lot of pressure off me.”

Source Link: https://www.northjersey.com/story/sports/high-school/track/2025/06/05/nj-track-keating-and-shue-score-dramatic-wins-at-state-meet-of-champions/84027663007/

Athlete's Latest Article

Meet of Champions: Ben Shue repeats as discus champ

Jun 04, 2025

Bergen Catholic’s Shue overcomes injury to defend discus title at 2025 Meet of ChampionsDespite battling a partially torn pectoral muscle that has hampered his performance in recent weeks, Bergen Catholic senior Ben Shue delivered when it mattered most. On Wednesday, Shue captured his second consecutive Meet of Champions discus title with a throw of 186-11—an emphatic statement of resilience and determination.Shue had finished second in both the Bergen County Meet of Champions and the Non-Public A Championships, falling 30 to 40 feet short of his personal best. Many in his position might have ended their season early. But Shue, driven by a champion’s mindset, chose to compete.With the crowd clapping in rhythm—a signature move that’s become synonymous with his throws—Shue stepped into the circle and launched the winning mark, securing his place atop the state once again.“It’s not sugarcoating it to say that this season was tough,” said Shue afterwards. “I was coming from football season where I had torn rotator cuff and the throwing didn’t hurt, so in in my head i’m fine, but I couldn’t lift at all. I had to stop lifting during football and wrestling seasons. I finally was able to go 100% and had my best chest workout the Saturday after Penn Relays. That Tuesday afterwards was when I tore my pec”.“This was the best I felt with my chest”, Shue added. “Can’t complain with having it on a day like this and it’s it is special because of how things went last year, being pissed off from shot put to coming over here to PR and have a top five mark all time in SMOC [State Meet of Champions] history with no technique involved, I was just pissed off”.“I didn’t know how far it was gonna be, I thought it would be around what I threw or a little bit farther, but I knew I could come up with something around there because I’ve done millions of times, but it was just it was getting it done and that feeling of relief. After that last one, I looked at my dad, he fist bumped me and I shed a little tear, I knew it was special”.His journey through the Meet of Champions has been anything but linear. As a freshman, he entered as the top seed but finished sixth. He placed second as a sophomore before breaking through last year with a 205-4 throw, the fourth-longest in New Jersey history“Through the years this meet has owed me,” said Shue with a smile. “From freshman year, me and Fabian [Gonzalez] being one and two in the state all year long to finishing sixth, I went from freshman year to sophomore, both me and Fabian, dueling it out to where we’re both injured by the end of the season, then last year, I just kind of put it all together and this year, I just had to rebuild myself to to make my chest as good and ready as possible and it was enough today”.This season, he closes out his high school career with a season-best of 200-1, once again finishing as the state’s top discus thrower.For Shue, it’s a fitting end to a remarkable high school career—one defined not just by distance, but by heart.

Interview With Boys Discus Champ Benji Shue

Jun 04, 2025

In today’s video, we’re diving into an exclusive interview with one of New Jersey's standout athletes of the season, Benji Shue. Fresh off his impressive victory in the boys’ discus event, Benji shares his journey, training insights, and what it takes to dominate in such a challenging sport. Whether you’re a track and field enthusiast or just curious about what goes into becoming a champion, you won’t want to miss this. Let’s hear from the champ himself!" Click link below for full interview.

Ben Shue: A THREE-SPORT STAR SHINES IN CRUSADER COUNTRY

May 01, 2025

Ben Shue’s incredibly successful career in BC football, wrestling and track & field.Being a successful student-athlete at Bergen Catholic is not the easiest thing to achieve, let alone being a standout in three different sports, but for BC’s Ben Shue ’25, he was able to carve out a unique legacy as a champion Crusader in all of his sports and has left his mark in Crusader Country as one of the most accomplished student-athletes to ever wear the scarlet & gold. Ben Shue will go down as the greatest thrower in Bergen Catholic track & field history, having won the 2024 New Balance National Championship in the discus, in addition to winning a New Jersey state title in the same event as a junior. For his incredible accomplishments, Shue was honored by being named New Jersey’s 2023-2024 Gatorade Boys Track & Field Player of the Year, becoming only the third Bergen Catholic student-athlete to ever earn Gatorade Player of the Year honors alongside Alecko Eskandarian ’00 (1999-2000 National Boys Soccer Player of the Year) and Jonathan Germano ’13 (2012-2013 NJ Football Player of the Year). Shue will be taking his throwing talents to Austin, Texas, to compete as a member of the University of Texas Longhorns track & field program, one of the best programs in the entire nation, and a school that routinely produces U.S. Summer Olympians. “Ben is the epitome of what a Bergen Catholic student-athlete represents and is a great role model for all current and future students,” says BC Athletic Director Brendan McGovern ’10. “Ben’s dedication, discipline, and passion for not only each sport, but also his academics, makes him an inspiring example of what it means to push your limits and embrace challenges.”Most people would sign-up to be an all-time great at just one sport, but Shue’s athletic prowess and championship pedigree were also evident on the football gridiron and wrestling mat. Shue served as one of the anchors on the Crusader offensive line that paved the way for the 2024 Non-Public A state championship and will leave as part of the winningest class of football players in Bergen Catholic history, having earned 4-straight state titles in their times in Crusader Country. On the wrestling mat, Shue was crowned a county and region champion during his senior season and has been a mainstay on the podium down in Atlantic City, twice finishing 4th overall in New Jersey at 285 lbs. With Shue’s capable senior leadership, the Crusaders claimed their 21st Bergen County team title in program history, and helped re-establish BC as a top tier wrestling program in the Garden State. While his time as a Bergen Catholic student-athlete is coming to an end this spring, Ben Shue’s reputation as one of the most accomplished and decorated athletes in school history will forever be remembered for his legacy of leadership, something that can be seen in both his academic and athletic careers in Oradell. Shue reflects on his run of incredible success in his normal humble fashion. “Just doing a sport here at BC is difficult, let alone two or three,” says Shue. “I knew it was going to be difficult, but that just made the end reward so much sweeter. I just think being a studentathlete and always focusing on my work and my sports is a legacy I’d like to leave behind.” Few Bergen Catholic student-athletes have been able to accomplish as much while walking the hallways in Crusader Country than Ben Shue has. He is a national champion, a member of state title winning teams, and someone who proudly represented the Bergen Catholic Brotherhood every step of the way to his crusade to greatness.