It may be the middle of the fall, by Skylar Ciccolini is busy setting a record in the javelin.
Ciccolini, a Mifflin County senior, set the U.S. national high school record with the 500-gram javelin at the Youth Olympics in Buenos Aries, Argentina on Tuesday with a toss of 180-08 (55.07 meters). Ciccolini launched her big throw on her first attempt of the final, which placed her sixth overall. The NSAF was on-site in Argentina to report on it.
Elina Tzengko of Greece won the competition with a toss of 202-06 (61.74 meters). Ciccolini was just over five inches off fourth place.
500-gram in the youth standard in the javelin. The implement used in high school competition in the U.S. is 600 grams. Madison Wiltrout, a Connellsville graduate and current North Carolina-Chapel Hill sophomore holds the national high school record with the 600-gram javelin at 185-05 from 2015.
Ciccolini is coming off a big junior season. She picked up wins at the Penn Relays and at the PIAA State Championships, her first AAA state title. She threw competition bests over 160 feet on seven occasions and over 170 feet three of those times, including a best of 177-0.5 at the Frederick Bastian Track & Field Classic in the Bahamas.
Ciccolini comes into her senior year as the nation's top high school returner from last year. She sits at No. 2 on Pennsylvania's all-time javelin list, trailing just Wiltrout. Expect her to make a run at that national record, as well, this coming coming season.
Watch an interview with Ciccolini after winning the PIAA title this past spring below: