TAKE A BOW, April Thomas: your javelin dynasty is complete. With 5 straight years of putting men on the podium, including the ’16 winner and a 1-2 last year, the Mississippi State assistant now has a medal sweep on her coaching résumé—only the second in meet history (Oregon did it in ’64).
Defending champion Anderson Peters led the way and the Bulldog soph’s dominance was unchallenged, as he was the only thrower to score a PR on the day. The favorite’s opening 277-11 (84.70) would have won it—indeed, as a meet record it would have won all previous editions of the meet—but he wasn’t done, spearing a Grenadan Record 284-2 (86.62) in the third found and for good measure a 283-9 (86.48) in the fourth. “It feels good being part of a team that was able to go 1-2-3,” he said, “and it feels good being able to throw 86m again”—a feat he accomplished here earlier this season at the Texas Relays. “This is a special stadium for javelin throwing. I think most javelin throwers look forward to competing here.”
Behind him, history was happening as teammates Curtis Thompson and Tyriq Horsford were next in the queue. Thompson’s first-round 257-3 (78.43) would hold up for a set-filling silver to go with his ’15 bronze and ’16 gold. In the third round, frosh Horsford slipped into bronze with 248-0 (75.59). He wouldn’t come close to that for the nail-biting final three rounds, but when Sindri Gudmunsson’s final throw fell more than 6ft short, the sweep was sealed. “It was quite nerve-wracking,” Horsford said about the 3-round wait. “It was just being able to stay focused and do what I do.”
It was the second championship sweep of the season for the Bulldogs, a repeat of their SEC results. “To be able to do it again on a national level is really special,” Thompson said. “You can’t take things like this for granted. I’m just proud of these two, training with them. It was my last collegiate meet, so it was good to go out on a high note.”
“It was a good day,” Thomas said. “I’m very happy, I’m proud of those guys. This is the moment we live for. That’s why they train hard all year is to get to this moment.”
NCAA MEN’S JAVELIN RESULTS
FINAL
(June 05)
1. **Anderson Peters’ (MsSt-Grn) 284-2 (86.62) NR (CL) (3, 3 C) (MR)
(277-11 MR [x, 5 C], f, 284-2, 283-9 [x, 4 C; x, 2 NCAA], f, f) (84.70, f, 86.62, 86.48, f, f);
2. Curtis Thompson (MsSt) 257-3 (78.43)
(257-3, 238-8, f, 235-7, f, 236-6) (78.43, 72.75, f, 71.80, f, 72.09);
3. ***Tyriq Horsford’ (MsSt) 248-0 (75.59)
(f, 232-10, 248-0, 211-9, p, f) (f, 70.97, 75.59, 64.54, p, f);
4. *Sindri Gudmundsson’ (UtSt) 242-6 (73.92)
(242-6, f, f, f, 238-2, 241-7) (73.92, f, f, f, 72.59, 73.65);
5. Aaron True (Wich) 239-10 (73.11)
(239-9, 235-9, f, f, 229-11, 239-10) (73.08, 71.87, f, f, 70.08, 73.11);
6. Sam Hardin (TxAM) 239-8 (73.05)
(230-0, 219-10, 232-6, 239-8, 230-9, 238-11) (70.11, 67.02, 70.86, 73.05, 70.34, 72.82);
7. ***Ethan Dabbs (Va) 236-11 (72.23)
(221-7, 236-11, f, f, f, 222-0) (67.54, 72.23, f, f, f, 67.67);
8. Denham Patricelli (Wa) 232-10 (70.98)
(192-9, 229-11, 232-1, 227-7, 232-10, 232-3) (58.77, 70.09, 70.75, 69.37, 70.98, 70.79);
9. Chris Mirabelli (Rut) 228-8 (69.71);
10. John Nizich (Or) 227-9 (69.43);
11. *William Petersson (TxAM) 227-0 (69.20);
12. *Werner Bouwer’ (TxT) 227-0 (69.19);
13. **Mark Porter (PennSt) 224-1 (68.31);
14. Denzel Pratt’ (Lib) 221-1 (67.40);
15. Trevor Danielson (Tx) 219-3 (66.84);
16. Skyler Porcaro (SnUt) 218-9 (66.68);
17. ***Marc Minichello (Penn) 218-8 (66.67);
18. *Jackson Van Vuren (Or) 216-6 (66.00);
19. **August Cook (Army) 215-11 (65.82);
20. ***Hayden Fox (Navy) 211-11 (64.60);
21. **Cade Antonucci (Aub) 209-7 (63.89);
22. *Simon Litzell’ (UCLA) 208-0 (63.41);
23. Elijah Marta (Ky) 201-5 (61.40);
24. ***Brendan Artley’ (NDSt) 195-5 (59.57).◻︎
