The first time Meredith Rinehart watched Chamlers Stroup threw a javelin, his unorthodox sidearm style caught her by surprise. In his first competition with Upper

UPHS senior Chalmers Stroup prepares to  launch the javelin.

Perkiomen's track and field team, Stroop registered a distance of 130 feet.

            "It's awesome that he could do that," said Rinehart, the team's throwing coach.

            Two seasons later, the senior has already qualified for the District One Class 3A Championships in the javelin and discus, and is two feet short of qualifying in the shotput. This weekend at the Pioneer Athletic Conference Championship meet at Norristown, Stroup expects to contend for the title in the javelin and discus. He described the former as his best event.

            "Throwing the javelin comes pretty naturally to me," Stroup said.

            According to Rinehart, Stroup has utilized an unwavering dedication and a natural acumen to emerge as one of the conference's top participants in the javelin. Stroup, who recorded a throw of 150 feet in the Indians' final regular season dual meet last week against Pottstown aspires to break the school record of 208 feet.

            "From very early on, we knew this is what we could expect from Chalmers as a senior," the throwing coach said.

            Stroup has relied to a lifetime of skills developed on the baseball field to excel with the javelin. He says the technique of throwing a ball, and pitching specifically, are surprisingly similar.

            "Just like pitching, most of your power is generated by he back leg," Stroup said. "And the arm is in the same pre-loaded position."

            At the request as a friend, he initially went out for track and field as a sophomore. Stroup said throwing the javelin came relatively easily to him.

            In his first dual meet, in April of 2017 at Upper Merion, he utilized muscle memory attained in the other sport to record a quality opening mark he described as pretty solid."

            Since that initial competition, Stroup has refined his enough to post a personal best distance of 171 feet this season. He currently relies on a more traditional approach, by holding the javelin near his head and throwing it in an over-the-top arm slot. 

            "That's the best way to get the best angle and generate the most power," Stroup said.

            Additionally, he has extended his run-up to the line from five steps to nine and added a crow hop – similar to the move by an outfielder who catches a fly ball and throws the ball to home plate – to generate additional power.

            According to Stroup, 80 percent of the power from a throw comes from the lower body. He said the arm is responsible for the remaining 20 percent.

            Upper Perkiomen was swept by the visiting Trojans on Wednesday, May 1. The boys lost 96.5 to 53.5. 

            Donnie Miller (10:34.66), Blandin Conklin (10:46.05) and William Daub (11:17.7) swept the two-mile run. Conklin, a sophomore, and  and Daub, a freshman, each posted personal bests during the event, according to head coach David Dsuza 

            Dylan Simms, Ethan Trzaska, Cody Schwenk and Jonathan Trzaska won the 3,200 meter relay with a time of 9:55.5.

            Hunter Flack won the pole vault (12 feet), while teammate Gibson Mattice (11 feet) finished third. In the 800 meter run, Dylan Simms (2:10.1) and Jonathan Trzaska (2:10.8) ended up in second and third, respectively. Drake Conklin (12 seconds) took third place in the 100 meter dash.

            The girls lost 86-63. Abrianna Gato and AiYi Young each captured one event and finished second in another. Gatto won the 200 meter dash (27.0 seconds) finished second in the 100 meter dash (13.3). Young won the 800 meter run (2:43.7) and finished runner up in the 1,600 meter run (6:32).

            "This AiYi's first year out, and we're really glad to have her," the coach said of the junior. "We've been able to fine tune a few things with her running form, including her knee drive."

            Dana Meyer (15:28.7) and Alexiana Hughes (17:32.4) went first and second in the 3,200 meter run. Lilliana Goodrich (28-1), Emily Schaut (27-5) and Giana Deskevich (27-3 1/2) swept the triple jump.

            Nicole Bair cleared 7-foot-6 to tie for first place in the pole vault. Megan Carlin (7 feet) took third place. Emily Schaut posted second place finishes in the long jump (13-11) and triple jump (27-5). Melina Rivera added a third place in each of the throwing events.