Alexandria’s Carter Rivet Already Chasing History as a Sophomore
by Robin Fambrough // GeauxPreps.com Contributor
Carter Rivet started at left tackle for Class 5A Alexandria Senior High last fall as a sophomore, even though he weighs less than 230 pounds.
Impressive? Yes.
But it’s Rivet’s skills in another sport that are garnering national attention, not football. He enters Saturday’s Class 5A-4A portion of the LHSAA Outdoor Track & Field meet as one of the nation’s top young shot put and discus prodigies.
“I definitely would not be where I am if it wasn’t for my brother and my Dad,” Rivet said. “My Dad threw, and he coached my brother first. I benefited from being exposed to all of it so early.”
“I would say Carter’s benefited from the mistakes we made when I was coaching his brother,” Doug Rivet chimed in. “We’ve learned a lot about things to do and others not to do over the years. He (Carter) has taken advantage of that.”
Doug Rivet, who competed for Pineville High, is the Trojans’ throws coach. Older brother Hunter also competed for ASH and now competes for UT-Tyler. Neither has a competitive resume like the one the younger Rivet has amassed to date.
After placing second in the discus and fourth in the shot put at the LHSAA Outdoor meet last year, Rivet won the 2026 Division I indoor shot put title with a throw of 60 feet, 9 ½ inches, breaking a 19-year-old DI record.
A fourth-place finish at the Nike Indoor Nationals, loaded with physically larger upperclassmen, was next for Rivet. He recorded a 63-10 throw. More of the same has followed during the outdoor season. Rivet enters Saturday’s meet with the state’s top marks of 62-11 inches in the shot put and 203-7 in the discus.
“He’s ox-strong and wicked fast,” Zachary throws coach Amanda Woosley said. “He’s one of the most explosive athletes I’ve ever seen in person, which includes my time at LSU. It’s astonishing at his age.”
Rivet takes the praise and honors in stride. Like a “typical” little brother, he wanted to do what his older brother did.
“Sixth grade is when I realized I could be pretty good at this,” Rivet said. “I was following my brother. I did all the things he did … like play basketball in middle school, not football. I think that helped me.”
A future competitive frontier for Rivet is the hammer throw, a collegiate event. It could loom on the horizon this summer. Before that, LHSAA outdoor marks are certainly within Rivet’s wheelhouse.
The 5A shot put mark of 61-0 ½ was set 31 years ago in 1995. The legendary composite mark of 70-10 ½ was set by Airline’s Arnold Campbell way back in 1984 and might be a bit of a stretch this season. However, both the 5A (197-2) and composite (201-1) marks in the discus are plausible. One has stood for 21 years and the other for 20.
“Right now, I feel like I have good marks outdoors,” Rivet said. “But I think I have a lot more I can do.”