PIAA champion and Iowa commit Brady Mider

It's safe to say that Berks Catholic's Brady Mider enjoyed his visit to the University of Iowa.  "The people, the facility, the coaches, the atmosphere there was amazing. I loved it there. Everything was perfect," Mider told Paul Roberts of SV Sports.  Mider signed his letter of intent on Wednesday to join the Hawkeyes' track and field program.  The 6'1, 280-pound senior is one of the top shot put throwers in the country.  He brought home a gold medal from the PIAA-3A championships in the spring with a throw of 58-9.75.  "It felt great. All my hard work paying off just felt great," emphasized Mider.  He also finished first at the District 3 finals with an even better throw of 59-2.25.  Mider's personal record in the shot put, 61-4, came at an invitational at Perkiomen Valley in February.  He combines excellent footwork with tremendous strength.  Mider can bench press over 400 pounds and squat more than 500 pounds.  While his focus at Iowa will be on the shot put, Mider is also very good in the discus.  He finished second in District 3 and ninth in the state as a junior.  He threw 161-1 in the discus at the District 3 championships.  Mider has big expectations for his senior season at Berks Catholic.  "I want to hit between 65-and-70 feet in shot and discus like 170-175," he stated.  Mider is getting the job done in the classroom as well.  He gave credit to his parents for his 3.7 GPA.  "They've been on me since freshman year to keep it up and I've started to realize that it is really important," he said.