Matt McNamara completed his stellar high school hammer throwing career with a gold medal at the Eastern States Championships and a silver medal at the Adidas Outdoor National Championships. The two-time All-American captured the silver medal at the Adidas National Championships in Raleigh, NC on June 14, earning him his second All-American honor. Earlier this year at the Nike Indoor National Championships at Landover, MD, he was named an All-American in the 25-pound weight throw. His throws of 194'01" at the Easterns and his 192'01" at the Nationals were two of the leading hammer throws in the nation for the 2003 scholastic season. Immediately after competing in Raleigh he traveled to Sacramento to compete in the Golden West Invitational the following day.

After returning to Oyster Bay for a final exam, he returned the next weekend to Stanford University in Palo Alto, CA, to compete at the USATF Junior National Championships. In his last meet of the year, Matt broke the New York State 6K hammer record by over 12-feet. The June issue of Track and Field News ranked Matt fourth in the United States among all scholastic hammer throwers based upon his season best throw of 199'01." Although Matt has been throwing for less than three years, he has been ranked first in New York State for the past two years in the outdoor 12-pound hammer throw and first in the indoor 25-pound weight throw. The ranking is across all classifications, including public and private high schools.

Matt attributes his success to hard work, strength training, talent and excellent coaching. His head coach through high school was Martin Engel, a former American record holder and past Olympian. In addition Jim Heizman, a nationally ranked open hammer thrower, who is being coached by Mr. Engel in preparation for the 2004 Olympic trials, advised Matt on technical corrections and strength training. The combination resulted in Matt qualifying and competing in six national championships. Matt is the first Oyster Bay High School athlete to ever medal, qualify or compete in a national track and field championship. He is also the first Oyster Bay track and field athlete to be ranked first in New York State in two separate events.

In the throwing events (shot, discus, hammer and javelin) talent, strength, temperament and hard work are necessities, but good coaching is critical to success. Many high school athletes never reach their potential due to lack of competent coaching. During his college career Matt will be coached at Princeton University by Coach Fred Samara, a former Olympian and 1992 Olympic coach. Matt is looking forward to the challenges of college and is working hard this summer on his strength and technique in order to continue his hammer throwing success at the collegiate level.