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.
By Sean Farrell
