IT WAS ON like Donkey Kong as soon as UCLA’s Jana Van Schalkwyk dropped a 187-3 (57.07) seasonal best in flight 1, a warning to the higher-seeded throwers in flight 2 that they’d better come out smokin’ if they hoped to secure a spot in the final.
Georgia’s Leanna Davidson, last year’s runner-up, answered the challenge with a first-round 190-7 (58.09) to take the early lead. Davidson grew up playing baseball in her native Australia, and according to her coach, Don Babbitt, has an 84mph fastball. She used some of that zip to propel her second attempt out to 193-8 (59.03), briefly extending her margin over Van Schalkwyk, with Maddie Harris of Nebraska, the ’23 U.S. champ, moving into 3rd with a toss of 185-7 (56.57).
That put Irene Jepkemboi of TCU into 9th, not a comfortable spot in a competition like this. She responded with a 197-10 (60.31) Kenyan Record, about which she was so astounded that her coach, Terry Hughes, had to bring up the live results on her phone before she believed she’d finally cracked the 60-meter mark.
Jepkemboi’s leadership was fleeting, as Georgia frosh Manuela Rotundo immediately jumped her with a 198-0 (60.35) toss. Rotundo, a former volleyball player who hails from Uruguay is, in Babbitt’s words, a “silent killer” with a 73½-inch wingspan and a quiet intensity that makes her tough under pressure.
Round 3 was crunch time. Missouri’s Valentina Barrios Bornacelli stepped to the runway having opened with a foul and a 163-8 (49.88). Her coach, Brett Halter, decided it was time for a dose of bluntness. “Hey,” he told her. “It’s going to take 56 meters to make this final, so you’ve got to go!”
Sufficiently inspired, Barrios Bornacelli grooved one out to 175-4 (57.31) and lifted herself to 4th.
Rumor has it that sometimes a thrower from an early flight who finds themselves occupying a high place will be sure to use the entire 15 minute pre-finals warmup to ice the finalists from flight 2. If that happened here, it worked.
No order changes near the top were effected until Barrios Bornacelli walked onto the runway in round 6. “Let’s win,” Halter told her. “Let’s go steal this thing.”
And she did, with a 203-5 (62.00) toss that improved her PR by nearly 4m and moved her to No. 5 all-time collegiately. Respectable responses followed from Davidson, Jepkemboi and Rotundo yet none were sufficient to better the Missouri senior.
“The mind, it was all mind,” said the happy winner. “Just like, ‘You got this, you have trained so hard, you have passing through a lot of things. Just do whatever you want to do, but know the things you can do.’… But the 62, I saw that coming, I knew I’m capable for more…”
WOMEN’S JAVELIN RESULTS
(June 12)
1. *Valentina Barrios Bornacelli’ (Mo-Col) 203-5 (62.00) PR (5, 7 C)
(f, 163-8, 188-0, 175-4, 175-9, 203-5) (f, 49.88, 57.31, 53.44, 53.57, 62.00);
2. ***Manuela Rotundo’ (Ga-Uru) 198-0 (60.35)
(f, 198-0, 190-7, f, 197-9, 194-3) (f, 60.35, 58.11, f, 60.28, 59.20);
3. **Irene Jepkemboi’ (TCU-Ken) 197-10 (60.31) NR
(176-5, 197-10, 185-8, 152-6, 169-0, 190-9) (53.79, 60.31, 56.59, 46.49, 51.53, 58.15);
4. Lianna Davidson’ (Ga-Aus) 193-8 (59.03)
(190-7, 193-8, f, f, 185-4, 190-8) (58.09, 59.03, f, f, 56.51, 58.13);
5. Maddie Harris (Nb) 191-6 (58.36)
(174-10, 185-7, 186-4, 191-6, 181-8, f) (53.29, 56.57, 56.81, 58.36, 55.38, f);
6. Jana Van Schalkwyk’ (UCLA-SA) 187-3 (57.07)
(164-6, 187-3, 167-0, 181-2, 178-0, 168-1) (50.14, 57.07, 50.91, 55.22, 54.27, 51.23);
7. *McKyla Van Der Westhuizen’ (Rice-SA) 185-10 (56.65)
(177-10, 181-3, 185-10, 172-8, 172-1, f) (54.20, 55.24, 56.65, 52.63, 52.45, f);
8. Kelsi Oldroyd (UtV) 184-11 (56.37)
(175-8, 183-9, 184-11, 173-7, 167-9, 170-4) (53.54, 56.00, 56.37, 52.91, 51.14, 51.93);
9. Kate Joyce (NC) 183-10 (56.03) PR; 10. *Shea Greene (Prin) 182-6 (55.64); 11. **Lilly Urban’ (Nv-Ger) 181-4 (55.27); 12. **Evelyn Bliss (Buck) 180-9 (55.09); 13. *Elizabeth Korczak’ (Ia-GB) 174-6 (53.18); 14. Maria Bienvenu (TCU) 173-5 (52.87); 15. Enikő Sára’ (Nb-Can) 171-2 (52.18); 16. Megan Albamonti (Al) 167-0 (50.91); 17. *Emma Yungeberg (Mi) 166-11 (50.88); 18. Erin McMeniman (Ga) 164-5 (50.11); 19. ***Arndís Óskarsdóttir’ (FlInt-Ice) 163-11 (49.96); 20. Sara Sanders (OrSt) 159-0 (48.47); 21. Deisiane Teixeira’ (Mia-Bra) 157-7 (48.03); 22. *Taylor Kesner (Wi) 155-7 (47.43); 23. **Trinity Spooner (LSU) 151-1 (46.05); 24. ***Beatriz Mora’ (Alb-Spa) 143-9 (43.83).
