TO SAY THAT U.S. men’s javelin throwing has been going through a rough patch of late is pretty much beyond dispute. Not since ’09 (Sean Furey) has an American made the WC final and not since ’07 (Breaux Greer) has one made it into the World Rankings. There has also been a drought in Olympic finals since Greer made it in ’04.
When this year rolled around the big goal was to reach 83.00 (272-4), the Doha standard and given that no American broke 260 last year, and this year’s leader was at 80.25 (263-3) it seemed a pretty tall order. The early going here pretty much confirmed the negative outlook with 250-foot (76.20) tosses being few and far between. The leader at the end of the first round was the formchart No. 2, Riley Dolezal, at 246-9 (75.20). Our No. 1 seed, Michael Shuey, was way back in 7th at just 227-6 (69.35). But Shuey, a 25-year-old Penn State grad, pulled it together in the second round with his 253-8 (77.32) cast. The third stanza found Dolezal, the ’13 & ’17 winner, drawing close to Shuey with his 252-0 (76.82).
Things stagnated in round 4, nobody improving. The penultimate sequence was similarly devoid of major action, the only place-change being Sam Hardin’s move from 7th to 6th. And then the top-enders became transformed. Hardin PRed 242-2 (73.82) and moved from 6th to 5th. Defending champ Curtis Thompson got his best of the day, 251-2 (76.56) to cement 4th.
Tim Glover was next and he unleashed his best of the year, 254-2 (77.47) to suddenly be in the lead. Not for long. Dolezal then uncorked his seasonal best, 271-9 (82.84), and he was suddenly in the lead. But again, not for long. After having been in control almost the whole afternoon, Shuey now found himself in 3rd. He reached down deep and let ’er rip. After a few tense moments the measure came up: 271-10 (82.85) to win the crown by an inch.
Referring to podium mates Dolezal and Glover, Shuey said, “I was just lucky to be the last thrower in that final, or else we would have been focusing on these two.”
None of the throwers reached the Doha Q distance, but with their big last-chance comethroughs Shuey and Dolezal actually found themselves in decent position to get field-filling invites from the IAAF.
USATF MEN’S JAVELIN RESULTS
(July 27)
1. Michael Shuey (Vel) 271-10 (82.85) PR (AL) (14, x A)
(227-6, 253-8, 250-6, f, 250-5, 271-10) (69.35, 77.32, 76.36, f, 76.33, 82.85);
2. Riley Dolezal (Vel) 271-9 (82.84) PR
(246-9, f, 252-0, 250-10, f, 271-9 [AL]) (75.20, f, 76.82, 76.45, f, 82.84);
3. Tim Glover (unat) 254-2 (77.47)
(241-4, 243-0, 250-5, 246-4, p, 254-2) (73.56, 74.07, 76.33, 75.08, p, 77.47);
4. Curtis Thompson (MsSt) 251-2 (76.56)
(236-11, 231-10, 243-11, f, 232-7, 251-2) (72.22, 70.67, 74.34, f, 70.90, 76.56);
5. Sam Hardin (TxAM) 242-2 (73.82) PR
(231-4, 234-9, 232-7, 234-2, 238-8, 242-2) (70.53, 71.56, 70.91, 71.37, 72.76, 73.82);
6. Tzuriel Pedigo (unat) 240-11 (73.44)
(211-4, 214-3, 240-11, 235-9, 233-8, 226-8) (64.43, 65.30, 73.44, 71.87, 71.23, 69.08);
7. Aaron True (Wich) 236-4 (72.05);
8. Chris Mirabelli (GardStNB) 234-2 (71.37);
9. Trevor Danielson (Tx) 232-6 (70.87);
10. Nicholas Howe (unat) 229-11 (70.09);
11. Marc Minichello (Penn) 228-3 (69.58);
12. Ethan Shalaway (unat) 223-0 (67.97);
13. Cade Antonucci (Aub) 215-3 (65.60);
14. Jalon Simpson (Olivet) 209-5 (63.85);
15. John Nizich (Or) 204-1 (62.20);
16. Skyler Porcaro (unat) 203-6 (62.03);
17. Denham Patricelli (Wa) 203-0 (61.88);
18. Ian Behm (unat) 202-9 (61.81). ◻︎
