Rancocas Valley's Nick Mirabelli aims for Penn Relays javelin title
Rancocas Valley junior Nick Mirabelli is going for gold at the Penn Relays.
Nick Mirabelli thrives on competition and always seeks improvement.
And because of his ambitious spirit, the Rancocas Valley junior has earned attention across South Jersey.
"His work ethic and determination is just incredible," Rancocas Valley coach Jeff Dzuranin said. "He is a team-oriented person, which is one of the reasons we selected him to be one of our co-captains for this year."
The track and field standout does exceptionally well at throwing the javelin. Mirabelli invested extra time last winter in preparation for a breakout spring season.
And that added workload has yet to disappoint.
"I've been doing nothing but improve," Mirabelli said. "If you want to win and be successful, you've got to train because that is the most important part."
Mirabelli finished first at the Moorestown Invitational on April 8 with a throw of 198 feet.
Then he won the College of New Jersey High School meet on April 15 with a throw of 202-4. That was the first time Mirabelli surpassed the 200-foot mark in his career.
At the Woodbury Relays on Saturday, Mirabelli continued his productive 2017 season with a throw of 206-8, a personal-best. After increasing his javelin PR, Mirabelli is ranked No.4 in the nation for boys' javelin throws heading into Friday's Penn Relays.
"It's amazing," Dzuranin said about Mirabelli's remarkable distance. "You see these kids like Nick work so hard in practice, and to see that materialize in a meet is really rewarding."
Dzuranin said that assistant coach Matt Hoffman primarily works with the throwers while he focuses more on the distance runners. The coach appreciates the great job Hoffman does at conditioning athletes such as Mirabelli.
"I just felt a good throw right when I released it," Mirabelli said of Saturday's throw. "I just trusted my training and knew it would be a great throw."
Mirabelli is confident as he heads into the Penn Relays that he will reach his goal of 210 feet.
"I think he can win the javelin," Dzuranin said. "He has a strong will to work that much harder than his competition. When everything is all said and done, it wouldn't surprise me one bit if he is on the podium."
For Mirabelli, throwing the javelin is a family tradition. His brother, Chris, who was an excellent thrower at Holy Cross and is currently making headlines with Rutgers, placed first in the high school Meet of Champions in 2013 and was the runner-up as a senior in 2014. Chris Mirabelli will compete in the javelin for Rutgers this weekend at the Penn Relays.
Mirabelli's father, Mark, was a well-known throwing coach who competed in the 1980 U.S. Olympic trials.
Chris "has always motivated me to throw farther than him, and that is my big goal, to try and beat him," Mirabelli said. "He basically influences me to do a lot."
"I don't even think he knows what his ceiling is," Dzuranin said. "Every time he sets a goal for himself, he achieves it. He's definitely someone that will be on the national javelin scene for quite some time."