EGG HARBOR TWP. – The javelin was not supposed to be a focus for Bogota’s Sam Gioiosa, now she is a Group 1 champion.
Gioiosa, one of the area’s top volleyball players and The Record Player of the Year this past fall, paid little attention to her javelin skills until last season. However, she is now among the state’s top athletes in two sports now, as she smoked the field with a 143-11 toss on Saturday, which broke her personal record of 141.
The Bogota senior did not even compete at Egg Harbor Twp. High School last season at the group championships. She had just started putting some effort into the javelin as an activity to supplement her volleyball regimen, little did she know how much she would improve.
“I actually was not good last year,” Gioiosa said. “I didn’t start taking this seriously until last year. I just did it to do it, I wasn’t really competitive about it. I probably threw under 100.”
As she practiced and refined her technique, Gioiosa realized that not only could she compete, she could become a serious threat statewide.
“I just really wanted to do something productive on my off-time,” Gioiosa said. “It’s kind of like volleyball. It’s sort of the same motions with my hand, hitting and throwing, so I was just got like really into and I was like ‘Oh, wow, I’m actually doing pretty good at this.”
Gioiosa has now surpassed her expectations, which seem modest now after she won on Saturday nearly 20 feet.
“I definitely wanted to beat 130,” Gioiosa said of her goals when she started focusing on javelin. “I thought I was crazy for just thinking that, and then I beat it and thought I can actually take this serious if I practice.”
Additional meet highlights
Hasbrouck Heights and Park Ridge were able to tie for second place overall with 34 points thanks to strong Day 2s.
The Aviators finished second in the 4-x-800, and Kassie Ketcho landed in second with a 39-9 1/2 shot put. Samantha Green ran 11:31.96 to take second in the 3,200, while her teammates finished second in the 4-x-400.
