By Greg Scharen
On Friday, Middletown High School North (MHSN) senior Casey Bogues will wear heels and a gown at prom. On Saturday she will be wearing her spikes and uniform, javelin in hand, at the NJSIAA Meet of Champions at North Burlington High School.
Bogues enters the meet off a victory at the NJSIAA Group 3 Championships where she threw her personal best of 134 feet and 2 inches. With that mark, Bogues is the third-ranked javelin thrower in the state.
The big meet is where Bogues thrives.
“I do better under pressure. So at the bigger meets with more people and the energy, I get butterflies in my stomach. I find that I throw my best like that,” said Bogues.
Bogues and her javelin coach, Randy Kalman, have worked on her block leg in preparation of the Meet of Champions, trying out a new javelin in the process.
Bogues usually throws a 40-meter javelin which is meant to be thrown approximately 133-00. She and Kalman want to try and hit 145-00, so they’re trying out a 45-meter javelin.
“I feel comfortable with it, I’m a creature of habit so I really like the one I’ve been using. Kalman has been encouraging and helping me with it so I think we’re going to try it,” said Bogues.
Bogues has had an historic high school career, both on and off the field.
She competes in the Women’s Javelin, Indoor Shuttle Hurdle Relay and Three Woman Long Jump Relay events, earning first place finishes at the Lion Invitational, Shore Conference, Monmouth County, Sectional and Group championship meets.
In the classroom Bogues is an accomplished student, working her way into the National Honor Society, and recently accepted the Dwight D. Eisenhower Leadership award, as well as the Lion Invitational Scholarship.
Despite all this success, track and field is still relatively new to Bogues.
Growing up she played academy soccer, never giving her the chance to try out her track and field talents. A severe concussion suffered during her freshman year put her on a new path.
Bogues began as a sprinter and a jumper for the Lions in her sophomore season, but after a fateful game of dodgeball that all changed.
“I’m a competitive person, so I was just wailing kids with the ball. After Convey (MSHN Sprinting Head Coach) came over to me and goes ‘So we’re going to try jav,’” said Bogues, laughing as she told the story. “I really wanted to try pole vault so Convey told me I had to do well with the javelin to try pole vault. So I just kept doing it, and got better.”
After finishing up her final year at MHSN Bogues will head to the University of Dayton, throwing the javelin for their Division I track and field team.
“Coach Kevin’s (Gilhuly) personality and his coaching style with the atmosphere with the team and just the school in general, I just knew I had to go there,” said Bogues.
Before headed to Dayton, Casey will compete at New Balance Nationals Outdoor Championships in June, at Aggie Stadium in Greensboro, N.C. The minimum throw to qualify for the championship portion of the meet is 122-00 in the javelin for women.
Bogues best beats this by 12 feet.
