Morristown’s Nick Vena saves his best for last, ending high school shot put career with record throw

nick vena's last mhs medal
NEXT STOP: WHEATIES BOX. Nick Vena holds the last medal of his Morristown High School career, after eclipsing his own state record on the last throw of his last scholastic competition with a 75-foot-10 1/2 inch bomb at the Meet of Champions in Old Bridge. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
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nick vena's last mhs medal
NEXT STOP: WHEATIES BOX. Nick Vena holds the last medal of his Morristown High School career, after eclipsing his own state record on the last throw of his last scholastic competition with a 75-foot-10 1/2 inch bomb at the Meet of Champions in Old Bridge. Photo by Kevin Coughlin

The great ones don’t just set records. They set them with a flair for the dramatic.

Nick Vena broke the state mark in the shot put on his very last throw for Morristown High School, with a stupendous heave of 75 feet 10 1/4 inches that bested the second-place finisher at the Meet of Champions in Old Bridge by about 16 feet.

That’s the length of a canoe.

“I’m going to remember this forever,” said Nick, who will take virtually every New Jersey scholastic shot put record with him to the University of Virginia this fall.

“I had set the meet record and state record here a couple of times. That’s pretty special to me too, and hopefully to everyone else,” he said.

As for a celebration, the humble giant said he was just looking forward to grabbing supper.

For the record, Stephen Mozia of Hackensack finished second with a toss of 59 feet 7 3/4 inches and Cole Farrand of Pope John XXIII was third at 58 feet 2 1/2 inches on a cool, overcast evening.

Nick had plenty of time to prepare for his final competition; the 6-foot-4-inch, 270-pound shot putter was supposed to throw last Thursday but thunderstorms pushed the event to Monday.

“I guess it worked out for the best. I got a couple more reps in, a little more time than expected. Either way, I would have been fine.”

There’s an understatement.

record throw nick vena
BOMBS AWAY! Nick Vena's final, record-setting throw for Morristown High School, in Old Bridge on June 13, 2011. Photo by Kevin Coughlin

All six of his throws on Monday exceeded 70 feet. Only two other high school athletes in the U.S. have ever thrown farther than today’s winning toss, according to The Star-Ledger, and nobody comes close to his feat of 96 throws surpassing 70 feet.

“It’s like a sprinter breaking 10-flat. It’s like a miler breaking four minutes,” said Jack Bush, who has been officiating at track and field events since the 1970s. “You’re talking about the possibility of the Olympics here.”

It’s probably a good thing that Nick is moving on. Everyone around him is running out of superlatives.

“This has surprised me,” said his mom, Michelle. “I mean, what a way to end his high school career. As he said before, it’s the extra credit. He had the 73 (foot) throw and he came out and gave it one more bomb before he ended his high school career.”

“That was something historical,” said Colonials Coach Paul Buccino. “To watch that shot put land 75 feet and 10 inches, it was just amazing.”

Scary, even. The people running the Meet of Champions on Monday should have issued helmets to spectators.

Your correspondent was recording video on the grass beyond the throwing field. There was an instant of terror as the 12-pound shot exploded in the gravel like a cannonball and kept coming.

Afterward, officials and friends and family of Nick marveled at the displaced gravel like a newly discovered crater on the moon.

They should preserve it with cement and maybe erect a plaque. This isn’t golf. No replacing your divots at the Meet of Champions.  Not when the champion is Nick Vena.

MORE STORIES AND VIDEO ABOUT NICK VENA

Our thanks to News12 New Jersey for this view of Nick’s record throw:

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