North Jersey Male Athlete of the Week: Ben Shue

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Benji Shue is well aware of his place in North Jersey shot put and discus throwing history. He already holds the Bergen County record in the discus and ranks seventh on the all-time shot put list with more than two full years of high school competition left.

He has 10 of the 11 top performances in Bergen County history in the discus, including a Bergen County record throw of 200-10 at the Big North Patriot meet on May 2 with his second best mark of 199-4 in last Friday’s E Division of the Red Littler Bergen County group meet. On every throw he makes, the U.S. sophomore discus record of 202-6 held by Olympic and World champion Ryan Crouser is in jeopardy.

He's met and talked to his predecessor as the Bergen County discus record holder, two-time Olympian Mike Buncic, who held the Bergen County record from 1980 until Shue broke it last April at the Jack Yockers Bergen County Relays by throwing 192-3 in the third meet of his career.

And he might have an even stronger connection with Bergen shot put record holder Andy Papathanassiou, whose 68-3 throw in winning the state Group 1 championship in 1985 has never been seriously threatened in the 38 years since his historic throw at Rutgers University.

"He's a NASCAR guy and I'm a NASCAR guy," said Shue, who is a big fan of the sport and a collector of valuable NASCAR diecast models. "He revolutionized the whole pit crew line."

Indeed the Stanford grad, who played four years of football at the then-Pac-10 powerhouse and also won the US Juniors championship in the shot, became the first ever pit crew coach for the Hendricks Racing team in 1992 and led Jeff Gordon's pit crew for a decade. That led to a complete overhaul of the pit crew structure, which remains the standard today.

It's something Shue aspires to do once his track career is over.

"I'm a math guy and I'm interested in engineering in any form," said Shue, who saw his first NASCAR race in 2017 and has been to eight races since. "I want to stay active and somewhere around athletics after my track career is over."

Shue is rarely away from athletics now, as a member of the Bergen Catholic football team (he hopes to play guard or tackle next fall), as well as a state wrestling fourth place finisher in the 285-pound weight class back in March. He is one of the top underclassmen in the state of New Jersey as a wrestler.

But the most interest for Shue, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 270 pounds, is in the throwing circle. Going back to last spring, he's had 13 straight meets at 59-7 or better in the shot and has thrown at least 193 feet in each of his last five meets in the discus, marks nearly any thrower in the nation would be thrilled with.

But he admits to some frustration. "I've improved about 2½ feet in the shot, which is pretty good, but so far only by 2½ feet in the discus and I expected to be up around 205 by now," he said. "I know I've had little milestones along the way and a little technique tweak can get some big results, but I've got big goals this year and in the future."

Among those are grabbing the national lead in the discus and winning his first State Meet of Champions title, with an eye on the national crown and the state record (218-4 by 2021 Olympian Sam Mattis, while at East Brunswick).

"I hate to lose and that motivates me every time I throw," Shue said. "I just want to win."

Benji Shue

Sport: Track and field

School: Bergen Catholic

Class: Sophomore. Age: 17

Accomplishment: Set a meet record in the discus and a group record in the shot put as the Crusaders' only double winner at the Red Littler Bergen County Track and Field championships.

By Paul Schwartz

Source Link: https://www.northjersey.com/story/sports/high-school/athlete-of-the-week/2023/05/18/bergen-record-male-athlete-of-the-week-benji-shue-bergen-catholic/70215648007/

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.