EAST STROUDSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, July 10–11 — The American JavFest, a mecca for enthusiasts of the event, tucked away in the Pocono Mountains, has seen its share of all-time U.S. performances in the event.
Maggie Malone set an American Record here in ’21. Curtis Thompson, Michael Shuey, Ariana Ince and Cyrus Hofstetler are among the current or recent all-time U.S. top 10s who set career or then-career bests here in front of throngs of javelin fans giving them their full attention and appreciation.
Saturday, it was the elite high school boys who stole the limelight.
In the last of the weekend’s 10 competitions at various age and ability levels, Hunter Pitcavage (Dallas, Pennsylvania) had a breakthrough that won’t soon be forgotten. The rising senior, who won the Nike Nationals in Eugene last month with a PR 224-0, eclipsed that mark by more than 12ft with a second-round bomb.
After throwing just 199-3 on his first attempt, Pitcavage found the sweet spot and fired the spear out to 236-2. The throw moved him up to No. 7 all-time on the HS list and is the farthest prep throw in 8 years.
“It’s like a dream,” he told DyeStat.com. “You know it’s a good throw, you just don’t know how good it is. You’re just holding your breath.
“I’ve got to thank [Coach and meet director Barry Krammes] on that, he got me where I need to be,” he said. “Really just coming down with more speed and getting through the point is what really got me there.”
Leighton Little (St. David’s, Raleigh) responded by improving his own PR from 220-2 to 228-1, but could get no closer, while Pitcavage’s final four throws included three between 209–210, plus a foul.
Meanwhile, the Elite Men’s and Women’s fields included U.S. leaders Curtis Thompson and Madison Wiltrout and they did not disappoint. Thompson, the Tokyo bronze medalist and now a 4-time champion here, couldn’t quite match his then-PR 287-9 (87.70) he crushed in ’22, but his winning 276-0 (84.13) in the fourth round was the third-best performance here since the event was revived in ’15.
Thompson’s timing and consistency hasn’t been quite where he’d like it, but the 84.13 was a strong step in the right direction. “It was definitely a big one,” he said. “The first one was a little amped up and rushed… but just to be able to bring it back down and still pushing, felt good.”
Jordan Davis, 4th in the NCAA this year at Georgia after two Div. II titles, improved from 4th here two years ago to 2nd with 264-5 (80.59).
Meanwhile, ’24 wome’s champ Sarah Blake, who was 3rd at USATF last year, hit a big first-round 192-4 (58.64) while Wiltrout could not throw further than 191 through her first four. But the JavFest debutante, who’s thrown 209 in three meets this year, finally landed 200-7 in the fifth round, then 206-4 to secure the win.
“The mental aspect of the sport is 80% of what you do, right?” Wiltrout explained, after describing a conversation after the fourth round with her mother (and early coach). “That’s literally all I changed right there was… my perspective of it. Instead of it being a pressure-filled meet that I had to throw far, it was a meet that I loved to be at and I just love the javelin. And that’s all I did.”
Olivia Barr (Wakefield, Arlington, Virginia), a 4-time JavFest winner at various levels, took the girls HS elite division with 154-3.
AMERICAN JAVFEST RESULTS
Men’s Events
JT: 1. Curtis Thompson (US) 276-0 (84.13) (239-5, 276-0, f, 258-7, f) (72.99, 84.13, f, 78.83, f); 2. Jordan Davis (US) 264-5 (80.59); 3. Nick Reynolds (US) 255-4 (77.82) PR; 4. Callan Saldutto’ (Can) 243-11 (74.36); 5. Damitrius Hester (US) 242-7 (73.95); 6. James McNaney (US) 237-0 (72.24); 7. Erik Tyler’ (Can) 236-6 (72.08); 8. Ty Hampton (US) 227-4 (69.29); 9. Tim Glover (US) 224-9 (68.51).
Open JT: 1. Sean Furey (US) 214-7 (65.41).
HS JT: 1. *Hunter Pitcavage (Dallas, Pa) 236-2 (71.98) (HSL) (7, x HS) (199-3, 236-2, 210-10, 209-0, 210-2, f) (60.75, 71.98, 64.27, 63.71, 64.07, f);
2. *Leighton Little’ (St David’s, Raleigh) 228-1 (69.53) PR; 3. *Kelson Hogan (Corona del Sol, Tempe) 214-1 (65.25); 4. Walker Ferguson (Mauldin, SC) 212-0 (64.62).
Women’s Events
JT: 1. Madison Wiltrout (US) 206-4 (62.90) (175-9, 186-11, 190-0, 191-1, 200-7, 206-4) (53.56, 56.98, 57.91, 58.24, 61.14, 62.90); 2. Sarah Blake (US) 192-5 (58.64); 3. Shea Greene (US) 181-8 (55.37); 4. Emma Yungeberg (US) 169-8 (51.72); 5. Ariana Ince (US) 168-0 (51.22); 6. Kate Joyce (Ire) 166-1 (50.63); 7. Skylar Ciccolini (US) 164-0 (49.99).
HS JT: 1. *Olivia Barr (Wakefield, Arlington, Virginia) 154-3 (47.02); 2. *Marissa Rystadt (Jesuit, Portland) 151-3 (46.11); 3. *Mercedes Gilroy (Mead, Spokane) 148-7 (45.30); 4. *AnnaJo Hill (Hellas, Jefferson City, Mo) 146-7 (44.68).
