Wiltrout, Quarzo earn All-ACC honors
North Carolina’s Madison Wiltrout fell short of defending her Atlantic Coast Conference javelin title Friday morning, but the Connellsville graduate earned first-team honors again with her top-3 finish.
North Carolina State freshman Gionna Quarzo’s first competitive 10,000-meter run was a successful one with the Brownsville graduate running for second-team all-conference honors.
Both local athletes also earned a berth into the NCAA regional meet at Jacksonville, Fla., on May 26-29.
Pittsburgh sophomore and Elizabeth Forward graduate Brianna Spirnak finished eighth overall in the javelin with a top throw of 46.47 meters (151 feet). She hit the mark on her second throw of the preliminary round.
Wiltrout finished third in the javelin with a top throw of 52.98 meters (173-10), hit on her next-to-last throw of the final round.
She qualified for the finals with a throw of 52.96 meters (173-9) on her last throw of the first round. Wiltrout’s other four throws were 49.55 meters (162-6), 50.57 (165-11), 48.55 (159-3), and 49.77 (163-3).
“I slipped on three throws. I almost scratched on my last throw,” said Wiltrout.
Florida State’s Kelechi Nwanaga finished first with a personal-best throw of 54.93 meters (180-2). Sara Zabarino, also from Florida State, finished second after a throw of 54.48 meters (178-9). She also had a personal-best throw.
Wiltrout said she learned a lot from the conference championship, about her technique, as well as about herself.
“It’s a lesson. The things I learned and have to fix,” said Wiltrout, who is a senior with one red-shirt injury season and second granted because of a lost season to coronavirus.
Wiltrout suffered a wrist injury last year that needed to be surgically repaired and also had to recover from a groin injury.
“This whole season I’ve been coming back from injury,” said Wiltrout. “With the wrist surgery and the groin injury, I was is recovery all fall. I didn’t practice until February.
“I needed to remember how to compete, in general. I had to learn how to relax.”
Wiltrout felt she had everything in order as she approached the conference meet after her finish in the Duke Twilight Meet a couple weeks ago.
“I bettered my school and personal college record,” Wiltrout said of her personal-best throw of 55.80 meters (183-1). “I thought I figured myself out at the Duke meet two weeks ago.”
Although she did not contract the virus, Wiltrout admitted the coronavirus pandemic really affected her, especially after losing the 2020 outdoor season.
“Covid really messed me up,” explained Wiltrout. “After Covid, I didn’t really want to throw a javelin again. I trained so much that year. As soon as the season was shut down, I was broken. It took me a while to heal.”
Wiltrout considered why she throws the javelin and emerged with a new approach to her place in the sport.
“Why did I start? I enjoyed it. I was throwing a borrowed javelin in my back yard,” said Wiltrout. “I fell in love with it. There were no numbers with it. I began enjoying why I began and am just having fun.
“In the grand scheme of things, I love the sport. I love the girls, the atmosphere (in the meet). I enjoyed that the most.
“The fun, the enjoyment, and still go out and compete.”
Wiltrout still holds the national high school record in the javelin, 185-8, set in a WPIAL Class AAA qualifier at Norwin in 2015. She actually holds the second-best throw, as well, 182-8. She no longer feels she needs to “chase the number.”
“Javelin is not my identity any anymore,” said Wiltrout. “I competing with myself against the physical and mental of it. I discovered it, and now I go out and do it.”
Although she’s not chasing numbers anymore, that doesn’t mean the opposing throwers can take her lightly as she enters the regional meet and an expected berth into the national championship. Wiltrout earned All-America status in 2019 after finishing third.
“It fuels my fire, me bettering me. Not a distance or winning, me bettering me fuels my competitive fire,” explained Wiltrout. “I’m chasing whatever God’s will is and I’ll fight to win with all my power, obviously.”
Wiltrout has already secured a berth into the Olympic qualifier this summer.
Although Quarzo has run thousands of miles in her life, she had never competed in a 10K on the track or road. If her first 10K is any indication, Quarzo’s future is bright after she placed fifth overall with a time of 33:24.87. Her time puts her in the top-20 in the nation and seventh in the regional.
Georgia Tech’s Nicole Fegans won with a meet-record time of 32:45.30.
Quarzo said she looked forward to running the distance for the first time.
“I really wanted to run it all season. I felt it was my race. I asked my coach and she put me in it,” explained Quarzo. “Personally, I like it. I like track & field better than cross country.
“The 25 laps doesn’t bother me. I have such good teammates to run with.”
Those teammates helped Quarzo remained focused through the seemingly endless laps around her home track.
“I was in it the whole time. My teammates are so phenomenal. I’m so used to running with them every day,” said Quarzo, an Elementary Education major. “I’m a lot better at longer distances. The one thing I’m good at is I get in the groove and keep it up for a while.
“And, they were playing good music.”
Quarzo said she was right on her splits.
“My coach wanted me to hit 82s, 82-highs, each lap. I started to push it and went a little faster in the last 800. I felt good,” said Quarzo. “My kick has gotten a lot better since I’ve been here.”
Quarzo often would blow away the field in high school, but she doesn’t mind other runners taking the pace now.
“I love not being in front. These girls are so fast, you can still be amazing,” said Quarzo, adding, “The good thing in college is you don’t have to win it to be considered good.”