PIAA States Preview: Boys' Throws

Photo by Patty Morgan

AA Boys' Javelin Preview

Last year, one of the state meets biggest upsets came in the AA boys' javelin as Laurel's Jake Wilson claimed the state title with a big toss of 195-3 to upset some of the pre-meet favorites. That proved that in the javelin, possibly more so than any other event, that anything can happen.

But AA is loaded in the javelin this year, as eight boys on the state rankings have season best at or better than 180 feet.

At the top of list is Dunmore's Gavin Darcy, who took tenth last year, but has shown to be the state's best in the event this season with some consistently strong throws coming into the state meet. Darcy's best throw came at the Robert Spagna Championship meet when he threw a PA#1 and US#3 212-10 in the javelin. He followed that up with a 202-9 to win the District 2 title. What does he have in store for states?

A number of strong throwers, however, will give a formidable challenge to Darcy. Richland's Ethan Dabbs was fourth at states last season. He sits at PA-AA#2 with a best of 198-8. The junior may have to get back over 200 feet to grab this title. Montoursville's Josh Dingus has been consistently over 180 headed into the weekend. He comes in with a best of 197-1.

Hopewell's Noah Drudy comes in as the #2 seed in the meet and has had a strong junior campaign. He could definitely be a threat to the title. Carbondale's Jason Jablonowski has been pushed by Darcy all season and he'll be in the mix over the weekend. Derry Area's Zach Baum comes in with a PR of 192-11 and he, too, will put himself among the top. 

Palmerton's Chris Fredericks, Danville Area's Jared Mowery, and Kane Area's Austin Labesky could also have a chance at some high finishes. Labesky was eighth last season.

Entries:

Event 618  Boys Javelin Throw AA (25)
===============================================================================
 NFHS Record:  246-09  2012        Billy Stanley, South Park HS, PA            
 PIAA Record:  221-06  2011        Rob Robbins, Northeast Bradford 4           
NFHS Hnr Rol:  193-00                                                          
               176-00  SQS
           Name                        Year School            Seed Mark     Finals
===============================================================================
  1    158 Darcy, Gavin                  11 Dunmore 02           202-09   SQS  
  2    225 Drudy, Noah                   11 Hopewell 07          187-05   SQS  
  3     77 Jablonowski, Jason            12 Carbondale 02        186-10   SQS  
  4    323 Dinges, Josh                  11 Montoursville 04     185-05   SQS  
  5    385 Fredericks, Chris             10 Palmerton 11         184-08   SQS  
  6    443 Dabbs, Ethan                  11 Richland 06          182-11   SQS  
  7    121 Mowery, Jared                 11 Danville Area 04     180-07   SQS  
  8    142 Baum, Zach                    12 Derry Area 07        178-08   SQS  
  9    235 Labesky, Austin               12 Kane Area 09         178-00   SQS  
 10    493 Repaja, Nenad                 12 Sharon 10            172-11        
 11     27 Taneyhill, Jarrett            12 Bellwd Antis 06      171-07        
 12    362 Paronish, John                11 Nthrn Cambria 06     171-01        
 13    108 Mott, John                    12 Comm Perry 10        169-04        
 14    373 Close, Dylan                  11 Otto-Eldred 09       167-07        
 15    525 Wright, Timothy               12 Sthrn Fulton 05      167-05        
 16    181 Brown, Devon                  12 Fort Cherry 07       166-02        
 17    495 Link, Zach                    11 Shenndoah Vly 11     165-09        
 18    140 Leonard, Seth                 11 Delone Cath 03       158-01        
 19    340 Kalp, Keith                   12 Mt Pleasant 07       157-06        
 20    597 Niedrowski, Hunter            11 Wyomissing 03        157-06        
 21    568 Banze, Patrick                12 Vincentian 07        157-04        
 22     42 Richardson, Lawrence           9 Bish McDevitt 12     149-09        
 23    349 Chuma, Max                    12 New HopeSlbry 01     148-08        
 24    282 Mucollari, Erik               11 Masterman 12         133-02        
 25    111 Francis, Quameer              11 Conwell-Egan 12      130-06