Thursday, March 2, 2006
By CELESTE E. WHITTAKER
Courier-Post Staff
Source
- Nick Gilanelli began competing in the pole vault when he was a freshman at Moorestown High School.
Now he's winning Northeast Conference Championships at Monmouth University in the pole vault.
"This is my eighth year (of competing in the pole vault)," the senior said. "At first it was just like I tried every event. I sort of picked it up at the low end of it pretty quick. It is very technical as you get to the higher heights. Subtle technical things that happen in a split second, that I obviously don't have down, because I'm not jumping 18 or 19 feet yet."
But he's reached some pretty high heights. He's posted five top five finishes for Monmouth this season and set a school record when he jumped 15-3 at the Penn State Relays, where he finished third. He then broke the record at the Northeast Conference Championships on Feb. 12 when he leaped 15-5 and beat Mount St. Mary's Josh Dyzak in a jump-off.
Gilanelli was one of three individual champions for Monmouth's men's indoor track and field team at the NEC Championships. Monmouth finished in front of Robert Morris to win its second consecutive NEC title.
"I don't think I could script it any better," said Gilanelli, who was named the NEC Field Athlete of the Week on Feb. 7 and was recently named first-team All-NEC. "My freshman year, I wasn't a factor. I was still getting used to athletics at the college level. In the offseason, I really started training hard, jumping higher, going to some camps.
"Aside from being exciting and fun, I think I've matured not just athletically, but as a young man getting ready to graduate."
This weekend, Gilanelli and his Monmouth team will be competing at the Eastern College Athletic Conference/IC4A Championships at Boston University.
"At this one, you see some major schools, Miami, Michigan, Duke," Gilanelli said. "It's fun from that aspect. Not being from a huge school but still being Division I and getting to compete at that level. Last year was my first time going. I was warming up, and I saw all these big names. This year, I'm feeling pretty confident I can go there and have a top three or four finish."
It's been a steady progression for Gilanelli at Monmouth. As a sophomore he tied the indoor school record at 14-11 3/4, then as a junior he broke the school record when he won the NEC title, jumping 15 feet. Then came his jump of 15-3 at Penn State this season and his 15-5 at the NEC championship.
"It's so special to me because I've worked so hard for it," Gilanelli said. "I see that goal, but then to achieve it is spectacular. I definitely have to mention my parents (Frank and Denise). They really helped me out with getting me to the camps, they support me." Indoor Track