Rutgers’ Rudy Winkler earns B1G honors with hammer throw

A graduate transfer to Rutgers is this week’s Big Ten Field Athlete of the Week.

Winkler received the honor after breaking the Rutgers hammer throw record with a result of 71.76m (235’ 05”) in his Scarlet Knight debut at the Florida Relays. The previous record of 64.99m (213’ 3”) was set in 2016 by former Scarlet Knight Joseph Velez.

Winkler’s mark of 71.76m currently leads the Big Ten Conference and ranks fifth in the nation. The result also sits in the top 100 in the world, coming in at 68th.

And if you’re wondering, that crossed out “C” in his photo above is not an indication that he no longer attends Cornell. That is the Cornell uniform.

Winkler earned his biological engineering degree from Cornell University and won the 2017 NCAA outdoor national title in the hammer throw. He also represented the United States at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio. He is a three time NCAA first team All American.

I have never watched a hammer throw, but man, am I impressed and awed with the action in the video below. Wow!

The last Rutgers Outdoor Field Athlete of the Week was Christopher Mirabelli (May 3, 2017).