AAA Boys Javelin Preview
1-3-12.
No, those aren't potential lottery numbers. Those are the current U.S. rankings for the top three javelin throwers in Class AAA this year. It's not an accident that both national high school records belong to Keystone state throwers. Pennsylvania loves to throw the javelin, and this year's crop of 800-gram competitors in AAA is top flight.
Leading the way is Tunkhannock junior Matthew Prebola. Eighth in the country in 2019 as a result of his 199-1 throw for third at the PIAA final, Prebola has been on fire this spring. Sporting nine meets with at least one throw of 195-0, the smooth-throwing right-hander annihilated the District 2 meet record on each throw last week at North Pocono. His shortest throw covered 213-10, his average was 218-0 and his longest spanned a mammoth 222-2 that landed just an inch shy of the all-time top 30 nationally.
Also hoping for javelin-friendly breezes on Saturday is Nazareth Area's Collin Burkhart. Adept with the hammer (he's US#1 with that implement) as well, the senior and future Nittany Lion is No. 3 with the javelin by way of his 209-3 victory in the District 11 meet. He has two other meets over 200 feet this year and also threw 203-8 to win his district back in 2019.
The final member of the nationally ranked trio is senior Tristan Schmidt of Emmaus. Of the three throwers, Schmidt is the newest to arrive on the national scene, with his PR 198-11 from a month ago being one of at least four meets where he has registered throws of at least 193-8.
ENTRIES:
Event 718 Boys Javelin Throw AAA
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NFHS Record: 246-09 2012 Billy Stanley, South Park HS, PA
PIAA Record: 246-09 2012 Billy Stanley, South Park 07
NFHS Hnr Rol: 190-00
178-00 SQS
Name Year School Seed Mark Finals
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1 Prebola, Matthew 11 Tunkhannock 02 222-02 SQS
2 Burkhart, Collin 12 Nazareth Area 11 209-03 SQS
3 Schmidt, Tristan 12 Emmaus 11 193-08 SQS
4 Elgogari, Zak 12 Wilson 03 178-10 SQS
5 Stauffer, Ahren 11 Cntrl Dauphin 03 177-07
6 Shulenberger, Jack 12 Big Spring 03 173-03
7 Riley, Kayden 12 Danville Area 04 172-00
8 Kretzer, Landon 12 Butler 07 171-03
9 Stroup, Ethan 11 Altoona Area 06 171-03
10 Masterman, Nick 12 Harriton 01 169-11
11 Lichtinger, Adam 11 Fort Leboeuf 10 169-10
12 Long, Austin 12 Big Spring 03 169-07
13 Apodaca, Alec 11 North Hills 07 168-04
14 Nissley, Zack 12 Donegal 03 167-03
15 Miles-Eubanks, Rhyel 11 Coatesville 01 165-10
16 Flud Jr, Thomas 10 Upper Perk 01 165-09
17 Talone, Joe 12 Penncrest 01 165-04
18 Kulikowski, Caleb 11 Fox Chapel 07 164-05
19 Laslavic, Matt 12 Seneca Valley 07 163-05
20 Alcorn, Luke 12 North Penn 01 162-00
21 Moreau, Aidan 12 St Joe's Prep 12 145-03
22 Samsel, Isaac 10 Clearfield 09 130-02
23 Mayer, William 12 Abp Wood 12 124-07