Thanks to everybody for the info. Like I said, I had no experience with it so I had no base of knowledge. Now I do.
I still think its somewhat backward, but at least its just not our state. Seems like its happens alot of places.
One thing that bugs me about the difference is that the the girls tend to hit physical maturity earlier than the boys do, so it would seem like we should be giving the boys the shorter distance because they’re further away from finishing puberty when they’re 12-13.
Kind of like how high school girls throw the same weight shot and disc that college women and up do, while high school boys throw lighter than Olympic standard implements.