ATHLETE OF THE WEEK : College Recruiters Snap to Attention After Royal’s Bultman Posts Big Marks at State Track Meet

Prior to last weekend’s state track and field championships in Sacramento, Dave Bultman of Royal High had posted some impressive numbers. He had the farthest high school discus throw in the state (192 feet, 1 inch) and was third in the shotput (62-0).

But even with the big marks, recruiters from universities such as UCLA and USC had shown only mild interest in Bultman.

“I’ve had scholarship offers from Kansas and Tennessee,” Bultman said. “But those schools aren’t exactly my first choices.”

But that was before last weekend’s meet when Bultman became just the third athlete in the past 28 years to win both the shotput and discus at the state championships.

By Monday afternoon, USC had offered Bultman a full scholarship and UCLA had improved its offer considerably.

“It’s funny,” Bultman said philosophically. “USC told me earlier that they were short on money. I guess they lied. You throw 67 feet and suddenly they’ve got plenty of it.”

Bultman’s 67-foot effort in the shot was a personal best by five feet and ranks him third on this year’s national high school list. He won the discus on Saturday (193-6) after throwing a personal best of 196-10 in qualifying Friday, which ranks sixth in the country.

Even though Bultman was expected to win both events, the 6-foot, 240-pound transfer from San Jose’s Independence High had his doubts.

“I thought I would win the discus,” he said. “But two guys had better marks than me in the shot. Winning both events was one of my goals. I knew that no one was going to roll over for me.”

He was right.

Kaleah Carter of Edison High, the only California shotputter to defeat Bultman this season, improved his personal best to 63 feet but still finished second by four feet.

“As soon as I let go of it I knew it was a good throw,” Bultman said of the 67-footer. “It felt good. It felt like it had a lot of power and force behind it. It felt like a big PR (personal record).

“I thought it might be 65 feet. Maybe 66. But not 67. That shocked me.

“It seems like I’m living a dream right now. I think about what happened Saturday and I get a really warm and satisfied feeling inside.”