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North Jersey Male Athlete of the Week hitting all the right notes in legendary career

Benji Shue is a walking dichotomy.

There is the strong and powerful 6-foot-2, 270-pound athlete who blocks linemen in football, wins state medals in wrestling and breaks county records in track. The student-athlete who carries a 4.19 GPA and a great respect for the history before him in discus and shot put.

Then there is the guy Bergen Catholic track coach Michael Begen sees behind the scenes every day at practice. The one who likes to keep the mood light and control the playlist.

"My favorite memories with Benji are obviously his big personal records but aside from that is how much of a goofball he is at practice," Begen said. "People on the outside have no idea with the music and dancing and joking around."

"Mostly, I like to play EDM and dancing music," Shue said. "Especially with the discus, I like to stay loose. The higher-pace, faster music makes me want to explode. It helps loosen everything up so you're not stiff throwing. But I don't know if the other track teams like what I play."

In high school sports, Shue marches to the beat of his own drum. The Texas commit broke through with his first state Meet of Champions title on Wednesday in the discus (205-4) and finished with silver in the shot put. It was one of the last things on his to-do list after setting the Bergen County discus record two years ago as a freshman and adding the county shot put record last Saturday, hitting a personal-best by throwing 69-2.

For Shue, it was a longtime goal to pass the shot put mark set by Emerson star Andy Papathanassiou, who went on to lead Jeff Gordon's NASCAR pit crew for a decade. Shue is hoping to pursue a similar career path after studying mechanical engineering in college.

"We've messaged a little bit back and forth through Twitter," said Shue, who took honors precalculus this past semester. "I've learned to know his background, tying it with how he's an athlete and changing over to NASCAR."

What makes Shue so unusual is not only his talent, but his routine in an era of specialization.

Shue spends his winters on the wrestling mat in Oradell and only started gearing up for track this year in early-February with a practice or two per week. By the time he stepped off the podium at Boardwalk Hall as the state fourth at heavyweight, there wasn't much time to ramp up for his only indoor meet of the year. The Nike Indoor Nationals were only eight days away.

"I don't know if there's a better athlete in New Jersey," Begen said. "The scary part is he's not even as strong or as in tuned as he could be in this sport. That's why he's going to last forever and do so amazing in college."

Shue, who plans to compete in all three sports again as a senior, came into this year with the lofty goal of hitting 70 feet in the shotput.

While it was six feet more than his previous high, Shue was convinced that his sophomore year didn't show his full potential. A week before the group championships, Shue went to throw the shot put and heard a pop in his left leg. About two months later, an MRI revealed a tear in his gracilis muscle.

"I was throwing on it and played football on it," Shue said. "I think it is pretty much healed now. Knock on wood, I haven't had any [setbacks]. I had a little bit of hiccup at the beginning of the wrestling."

Getting back to full health has allowed Shue to rack up the medals this year. He placed second at the Penn Relays in the discus and doubled up on titles at the league, county and state group championships. His legacy should be safe for a while, at least until 7-year-old brother Bryce comes along.

"If anyone breaks my records, hopefully it would be him," Shue said. "That would be the goal."

Benji Shue

Sport: Track and field

School: Bergen Catholic

Class: Junior. Age: 18

Accomplishment: Shue captured his third straight Non-Public A titles in the discus and shotput and set the Bergen County record in the latter event.

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Athlete's Latest Article

Injured Shue repeats at Meet of Champions

Jun 05, 2025

Shue repeats as discus champion despite injury woesShue 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.”

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.