EUGENE, Ore. - Senior
Marc Minichello became the ninth individual national champion in the University of Pennsylvania track & field program's history on Wednesday night at Hayward Field, tossing a record third attempt of 81.17m (266 feet 3 inches) to win the javelin throw at the 2022 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
Minichello is the second Quaker to win the javelin title at NCAAs, joining Brian Chaput who won the event in 2003, Minichello also joins an elite group of eight alums who have won a total of nine titles dating back to 1921 when Earl Eby won the 800-yard event. The most recent national champion was Sam Mattis in discus in 2015, a Quaker who currently competes for Team USA and competed in the Tokyo Olympics last summer.
Minichello, who set four records with just one attempt at the East Preliminaries two weeks back, reset the bar on Wednesday. Leading the field of 24 competitors through the first two rounds, he only trailed for a few throw attempts when Baylor's Chinecherem Prosper Nnamdi landed a third attempt at 77.20m. In his final attempt to closeout the opening rounds, Minichello threw the best distance of his career at 81.17m to reset the program and Ivy League record while taking back over first place for the rest of the event.
Hayward Field is familiar territory for Minichello, who competed there for the 2020 US Olympic Trials where he finished fourth overall in the javelin with a throw of 76.73 meters (251 feet 9 inches).
The Quakers have one more student-athlete competing at the NCAA Championships this week, as Mayyi Mahama throws in the hammer final on Thursday evening at 6 p.m. ET.
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