MAYAGUEZ, Puerto Rico (EYT/D9) — Union High School graduate and Rimersburg native Evie Bliss threw a career-best 173 feet (52.73 meters) to win the silver medal in the javelin at the 2023 Pan American U20 Track and Field Championships on Sunday morning.
Manuela Rotundo Silvera of Uruguay claimed the gold with a throw of 182 feet (55.49 meters).
Bliss, who won the PIAA Class 2A title in May while throwing for Union/A-C Valley with a mark of 170-2, made Team USA by winning the championship at the USATF Outdoor Championships in July in Eugene, Ore.
Bliss threw 166-4 on her third attempt and then on her final run hit 173 feet.
Silvera also notched her winning throw on her final attempt. On her first throw, she recorded 177-8.
Bliss, who will throw in the spring at Bucknell University, has made a meteoric rise in the event.
As a junior, she was second in District 9, but qualified for the state meet.
Her first throw at the PIAA Track and Field Championships landed just 67 feet away.
But she clawed her way into the finals as the ninth seed and finished second.
Bliss’ 170-2 this year in Shippensburg was a state record in Class 2A and the second best distance in the country this year.
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