Minichello just misses going to 2021 Olympic Games

WEST PITTSTON — When Marc Anthony Minichello was a sophomore at Wyoming Area, he was left at a crossroad when he injured his shoulder playing football, leaving his spring baseball career in jeopardy. It was suggested that he go for track, a move that changed his future forever.

In five short years, Minichello went from attempting to throw a javelin in 10th grade to competing on the Olympic stage, trying out for a spot on the United States’ 2020 Olympic team.

Let that sink in for a moment. Here is a guy that never threw a javelin five-years ago; And two weeks ago, he was vying for a spot on an Olympic team.

“It was arranged that I go to track practice one day and naturally I got funneled into the javelin because of my baseball and football background,” Minichello recalled. “I was throwing with some of my friends and I had some pretty immediate success to the point that I wanted to come back and do more. I started to do a couple of meets that season and eventually finished the year at districts.”

Having a baseball background doesn’t make it easy to transition from throwing a baseball to a javelin, but Minichello found some similarities.

“It’s very different but at the end of the day it is still a throw,” Minichello said. “Having a football, baseball background, it allowed me to adapt to it a little easier than other people.”

Minichello initially worked under Wyoming Area track Coach Mike Fanti, who helped him improve his technique over his first season on the team.

“I remember the first day that I went to throw the javelin at practice, I was throwing further than all the people that were there for a while,” Minichello said. “At the end of my sophomore year at (PIAA) districts, I came in fourth place with a 170-foot toss.”

Minichello kept growing with his throws and technique with marked improvement by tossing 15 feet further each of the next two years.

For Minichello’s junior year, he fouled out of the district competition, but returning in his senior year, he threw 204-feet, a meet record for that year.

Upon graduating from Wyoming Area, Minichello knew he wanted to throw javelin in college and began to promote himself to colleges that would fit him academically as well as athletically.

“I narrowed my college choices down to the Ivy League schools,” Minichello said. “I narrowed it down to Penn, Dartmouth, Brown and Harvard. I just wanted to find the best school.”

Minichello chose the University of Pennsylvania and began to focus on his studies and the javelin.

At Penn, Minichello began to train under coach Jeff Pflaumbaum where he was told he had to improve on more than just tossing the javelin.

“Throwing the javelin is really an athletic event where you need to be good at a few things like running and jumping,” Minichello stated. “The next step for me is to polish all of my athletic abilities and get better as being a well-rounded athlete rather than focusing on anything specific. My coach has been great and if I could work with him forever, I would but unfortunately he won’t be at my school any longer.”

While at Penn, Minichello, who has been accepted into The Wharton School of Business majoring in economics with a dual concentration in entrepreneurship and real estate, will be entering his senior year this fall.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Minichello has a two year extension on NCAA competition eligibility and will be participating in track in graduate school.

“I’ve been in contact with bigger schools like Alabama, Arizona State, Wisconsin and Georgia,” Minichello said. “I’ve spoken with all of them and they’re excited to possibly have the opportunity to work with me.”

Olympic experience

Minichello said he qualified for the Olympic trials in 2019 with a toss over 77 meters for the 2020 games, but with the pandemic, the Tokyo games were postponed to 2021.

The trials were held at Eugene, Ore., where after the first day of trials competition, Minichello was at the top of the leaderboard.

“That was one of the best experiences I’ve had in track and field,” Minichello said, on being in first after the first round. “I was able to take only one throw and then that mark ended up holding the top position throughout the competition. I gave it everything I had but I knew there was still a little bit more in me, was reassuring that whatever happened two days from then could have been really positive.”

On the final day, Minichello managed to just miss out on a podium, finishing fourth, and although it is a disappointment to miss making the trip to Tokyo, he is walking away feeling upbeat and excited enough to put in an effort for the 2024 games in France.

Going into the final day was pretty good, I felt confident and I was riding a hot streak,” Minichello recalled. “My family (mother Paula, sister Toni) was there, my coach was there, so I felt I was well prepared to do well.”

Minichello said he felt he put too much stress on himself as he started throwing and by doing so, he let it affect his technique.

“Being on such a big stage was really valuable as I grow as an athlete,” Minichello reflected. “To have this experience under my belt where now I’ve had the opportunity to compete against the best people in the country, be in a big stadium with lots of fans, have TV cameras pointed in my direction and to be a part of something so big makes the next time you face something like this seem so much smaller.”

Minichello feels the Olympic trial experience will pay off in dividends in the future.

“I’ll know what to expect and I’m a big believer in visualization,” Minichello said. “As I prepare for the Olympic trials in 2024, I’ll have the opportunity to imagine what it’s like to be back in the stadium again, feeling the track again, taking in the field, smelling the air, feeling the weather. All those things will be really important as I prepare for 2024.”

In the meantime, Minichello said he’s been chosen as an alternate to go to Tokyo, providing a number of circumstances would need to happen for him to go.

“I got processed as an alternate coming in fourth place and if other competitors drop out or can’t go because of COVID, there’s a chance I can get to go,” Minichello said. “It’s a low probability, but it’s an outside chance.”

Minichello knows there is no bigger stage in track and field than the Olympics and after his experience in Oregon, he will continue to train and work hard until he reaches his goal in getting to Paris in 2024.

Minichello facts:

College

• 2019 USATF U20 Champion (Javelin)

• 2019 Honorable Mention All-America (Javelin)

• 2019 NCAA Outdoor Championships Qualifier (Javelin)

• 2019 NCAA Outdoor Qualifier (Javelin) 2019 Outdoor Heps Champion (Javelin)

• 2019 First-Team All-Ivy (Javelin) 2019 USTFCCCA All-Academic

• 2019 Won the USATF U20 Championship (June 23) with a career-best mark of 77.15m. (Second all-time at Penn in the javelin)

• 2019 Captured the Ivy League Outdoor Heps Championship (May 5) in the javelin

• 2019 Won at the 92nd Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays (March 30) with a mark of 70.16m

High School:

• U.S. No. 14 in the javelin

• 2018 Pennsylvania district and state champion in the javelin

•Seventh at the 2017 New Balance Outdoor National Championships