2009 Outdoor (Junior): Named Horizon League Outstanding Field Performer following his first-place finishes in the discus (46.90m) and shot put (17.23m) and a second-place finish in the hammer (49.73m) at the league meet ... broke the school record in the shot put with a distance of 17.70m (58-1) at the Saint Francis Red Flash Open ... finished first in the event at the meet ... was an NCAA Regional Qualifier in the shot put after finishing first with a throw of 17.59m at the Detroit Titan Classic ... also won the discus (46.93m) and took third in the hammer (49.98m) at the meet ... the hammer throw distance ranks third in school history ... took eighth at the NCAA Mideast Regionals in the shot put with a distance of 17.93m (58-10) ... ranks third in school history in the discus after a throw of 47.55m (156-0) at the Sea Ray Relays ... finished second in the shot put (17.33m) at the Louisville Twilight ... added a first-place finish in the shot put at the Sparky Adams Invite with a distance of 17.48m (57-4 ¼) ... also named to the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association men's 2009 Division I All-Academic Track and Field team.
2009 Indoor (Senior): Redshirted
2008 Outdoor (Sophomore): Won the shot put by more than five feet at the Horizon League Championships (55-8 1/4) to claim the top spot the event for the second time in his career ... also finished third in the discus (153-9) and sixth in the hammer (162-3) at the league meet, setting personal-best marks in each ... hit the NCAA Regional automatic qualifying mark seven times during the year ... finished 15th at the NCAA Mideast Regional (54-10) ... won the shot put five times, including the Butler Twilight when he threw a school-record 58-9 1/4 ... also won the event at the prestigious Sea Ray Relays ... won the shot put (57-7 3/4) and the discus (147-5) at the Red Flash Open ... earned three top-five finishes in the discus ... named the Horizon League Athlete of the Week on April 8 and Horizon League Scholar Athlete of the Week on May 13.
2007-08 Indoor (Junior): Won the shot put at the Horizon League Championships with a meet record distance of 57-3 3/4 ... also finished sixth in the weight throw at the league meet (52-6) ... matched his school-record mark in the shot the following week at the Virginia Tech Last Chance meet ... won the shot put (54-10) and weight throw (personal-best 54-0) at the Baldwin Wallace Mid February Meet ... was named the Horizon League Athlete of the Week on Feb. 20 and the league's Scholar-Athlete of the Week on March 11.
2007 Outdoor (Sophomore): Redshirted.
2006-07 Indoor (Sophomore): Placed second in the shot put at the Horizon League Championships (53-11 3/4) ... won the shot put at the Baldwin-Wallace Mid-January Meet with a personal-best mark of 54-1 3/4 ... earned eight top-nine finishes in the shot put ... also placed fifth in the weight throw with a personal-best mark of 47-5 3/4 at Baldwin-Wallace.
2006 Outdoor (Freshman): Named Field Newcomer of the Year at the Horizon League Championship after winning the shot put with a school-record mark of 53-10 1/4...also finished sixth in the hammer (145-6) and seventh in the discus (126-3) at the championship meet...finished 13th in the shot put at the Finish Line USA Junior Outdoor Track & Field Championships with a mark of 53-11 1/4...the meet featured the top throwers aged 14-19 in the country...placed 22nd in the shot at the NCAA Mideast Regional (50-8 1/4)...posted personal-best marks of 146-7 in the hammer at the Campbell/Wright Open and 142-0 in the discus at the Northeast Ohio Invitational...earned four top-five finishes in the shot put.
2005-06 Indoor (Freshman): Placed third in the shot put at the Horizon League Championship (52-4)...posted a personal-best mark of 52-4 3/4 in the shot at the Central Collegiate Championship to finished third....recorded a personal-best mark of 45-1 3/4 in the weight throw at Robert Morris...earned seven top-10 finishes in the shot put.
High School: Finished second in the shot put at the 2005 Division III Ohio State Track and Field Championships as a senior with a mark of 58-3 1/4...added an eighth-place distance of 160-0 in the discus at State...placed fifth in the state in the shot (56-4 3/4) and seventh in the discus (159-0) as a junior...set the Tri-County Meet record in the shot with a personal-best mark of 60-3 as a senior...that mark ranked 23rd nationally in 2005 according to Dyestat.com...was the Tri-County League champion in the shot put three straight years...was also a standout in football, earning First-Team All-Ohio honors and being named the Division 6 Player of the Year as a senior...also earned All-Quad County, All-Northeast Ohio and All-Columbia County honors...broke 19 school football records and was the first player in TCL history to earn first-team all-conference honors all four years...was named WYTV Channel 33's Male Student-Athlete of the Year.
Personal: Born April 30, 1987...son of Larry and Sandy Merrill...has two brothers (Eric and Patrick) and one sister (Emma)...major is criminal justice.
