Not many schools have a javelin tradition like Rancocas Valley.
Going back to Drew Forbes, who threw the old javelin 221-7 back in 1978, No. 7 in South Jersey history with the old jav; South Jersey Group 4 winner Gary Forsythe, who threw 196-4 in 1996; Meet of Champions winner Jason Cowden, who threw 202-8 in 1999; and more recently 2018 Meet of Champions winner Nick Mirabelli, who holds the South Jersey record of 227-10 and went on to throw 236-6 and earn a top-20 U.S. ranking; and Robert Marks, who threw 191-6 in 2016 and won the state Group 4 title.
Time to add Kevin Burr Jr.’s name to R.V. javelin lore.
Burr Jr., who hadn’t thrown 142 feet until two weeks ago, popped his 5th straight PR Friday, winning the South Jersey Group 4 javelin with a 193-4 throw, 2nd-best in New Jersey this year, No. 14 in South Jersey history with the new jav [since 2003] and No. 5 in Burlington County history with the new jav.
Burr Jr. is the top seed in the Group 4 meet at Franklin Township High this weekend by 23 feet over Braden Paulmenn of South Brunswick.
According to his MileSplit page, this is Burr Jr.’s first year of outdoor track. MileSplit shows him running a 55 and a 200 indoors as a freshman and then not competing again until April 8 at the Deptford Spartan Relays, where he threw 132-1 and placed 8th in what appears to be his first-ever javelin competition.
Two weeks later, he thres 141-9 and placed 7th at the Blue Devil Classic at Westfield, but between the Blue Devil Classic on April 22 and the Burlington County Open on May 13 at Northern Burlington, something happened.
He got really good.
He won the County Open with a 179-9 throw – a 38-foot PR – and then improved to 187-7 at the Olympic Conference Championships across the street from R.V. at the Gertrude C. Folwell Elementary School field.
Which led to sectionals and a 26-foot win over Lenape junior Miles Acchione, who’s the 3rd seed at states this weekend.
Burr Jr.’s full series isn’t available [thanks for nothing, “EliteFeats”], but his 193-4 was best of all 16 sectional meets over the weekend. He’s No. 2 overall in the state behind George Kalkanas of Mahwah, who threw 195-6 at a meet at River Dell in April. He won North Group 2 Friday at Vernon with a throw of 187-3.
All-Time South Jersey 190-Foot Club
[with new javelin, which went into use in 2003]
227-10 … Nick Mirabelli [Rancocas Valley], 2017
224-10 … Curtis Thompson [Florence], 2014
220-11 … Cade Antonucci [Holy Spirit], 2016
216- 6 … Chris Mirabelli [Holy Cross], 2014
212- 2 … Alexander Georgia [Timber Creek], 2017
209- 4 … Steve Jernee [Ocean City], 2017
203- 6 … Stephen Benigno [Cherry Hill East], 2014
201- 1 … Sean Biehn [Burlington City], 2006
200- 8 … Cade Antonucci [Holy Spirit], 2016
199-10 … Kobe Roberts [Mainland Reg.], 2018
196- 9 … Terrence Smith [Oakcrest], 2016
195-11 … Joshua Moore [Middle Twp.], 2017
194-5 … Austin Hudak [Hammonton], 2021
193-4 … Kevin Burr Jr. [Rancocas Valley], 2023
192- 6 … Matt Rafferty [Northern Burlington], 2012
192- 6 … Chris Reider [Eastern], 2010
192- 3 … Shane McDevitt [Cinnaminson], 2014
192- 1 … Nick Cando [Eastern], 2004
191- 6 … Robert Marks [Rancocas Valley], 2016
191- 5 … Andrew Pierce [Cumberland Reg.], 2009
190- 0 … Andrew Forbes [Williamstown], 2011
190- 2 … Ian Meneswisch [Highland], 2003
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 