Jon Piotroski might make a good reality show. Something like “The Misadventures of Jon.” It could be like a dramatic comedy.
The poor guy has suffered several injuries, which are not funny. That’s the drama part of it. But he has also been put into several situations that even he looks back on and laughs.
The Hamilton West junior recalls his first year of organized football in horror; he talks about letting down a bunch of soccer coaches after he switched from football to soccer; then he chuckles in discussing his 8th-grade return to football and how overmatched he still seemed to be.
But he really gets a kick thinking about last year’s Central Jersey Group III sectional track and field championships, when he showed up in street clothes on Friday, only to realize that there was a scheduling mix-up and he was supposed to throw that day.
What makes Piotroski able to look back on it all with good humor, is that all these little setbacks were overcome to provide satisfactory results.
He became a starter at defensive end for the Hornets varsity last fall. This spring, he won the javelin gold medal at the Mercer County Coaches Classic with a PR throw of 157-4 on May 6, and finished second to Steinert’s Keon Cooper (182-4) in the Mercer County Championships with a throw of 156-9 on May 20. He also teamed with Josh Cobb to win the Mercer County Relays.
“Jon is long, strong, and fast,” Hornets throws coach Erin Folger said. “Javelin is a very technical event. Jon realizes that and is willing to put in the time and effort that it takes to focus on all aspects of his technique. The sky is the limit for Jon. With his work ethic and athleticism, he has the potential to make major progress, even by the end of this season.
“Although he has been successful this season, he has a lot of room for improvement in his technique, flexibility and mental toughness. I am eager to watch him progress.”
Piotroski is only in his third year of throwing the javelin, having started as a freshman. He opted to go out for track because other members of the football team did it. He opted to play football because he got tired of soccer. He played soccer because he couldn’t play football, which brings us to the start of our reality show.
The Piotroskis moved to Hamilton when Jon was in second grade, and he went out for football.
“I was terrible at it,” he said. “I was slow, I was out of shape, all that stuff.”
So he switched to soccer and played for the Hamilton Dragons, which became one of the best U12 travel teams in the state.
“I was getting praise from all these coaches as a goalie,” Piotroski said. “All these coaches were like, ‘You’re gonna play in high school right?’ I was like ‘Uh …no.’ We had two undefeated seasons but I don’t know, I was kind of done with it. I wanted to play football. I thought soccer made me faster, so I wanted to try it again.”
So he joined Pop Warner in eighth grade, with familiar results.
“They put me at guard,” he said, still laughing at the memory. “And I was just this skinny kid who didn’t know how to block.”
Undaunted, he stuck with it and went out for football in ninth grade and made the freshman team.
Piotroski kept working and in his sophomore year, started making some big plays at end for the JV team. He also had some big hits and nice blocks on special teams for varsity to gain the coaches’ attention.
Poised for big things as a junior, Piotroski was hampered by a pulled groin muscle he suffered during spring track the previous year. He could not work out to get in shape for summer camp. When he got to camp, he suffered a right (throwing) shoulder injury and missed the rest of the preseason. It was huge emotion swing within seconds, as he went from being praised to being in pain.
“We were hitting in practice and a coach said it was a great hit, and then I just felt my shoulder pop,” he said. “I tried to walk it off, thought it was a bruise. A minute later, I was almost in tears.”
Piotroski had popped his AC joint and could have missed half the season had he not rehabbed it correctly. He returned for the second game, a memorable victory at Notre Dame, and started at defensive end for the remainder of the season.
While all that was going on the fall, Piotroski was starting to make a name for himself in the spring. In going out for track, he didn’t feel he was fast enough to run or big enough for the shot or discus.
‘No one really expected that. I was really hyped up.’–West thrower Piotroski on his sectional medal last year
“I thought, ‘Javelin is a skinny guy thing, I’ll pick that up,’” said Piotroski, who stands 6-1, 210. “When I started, my form was terrible, I kind of just muscled it. I threw it like a football, which isn’t how you’re supposed to throw it.”
“Like most rookies, it took some time for him to get comfortable in the runway and to learn that throwing involves much more than just your arm,” Folger said. “He made a tremendous amount of progress by the end of his first year.”
So much so, that he won the freshman portion of the Mercer County Freshman-Sophomore meet with a throw of 119-6.
“That was pretty cool,” he said. “I thought, ‘Wow, I’m actually not too bad at this.’”
He was optimistic about his sophomore season, although his groin still bothered him and his shoulder would still pop out on occasion. The groin was the bigger issue, as it would begin to hurt after three throws.
“I thought it was a bruise or something,” he said. “Then I thought it was a hernia, so I’m glad it wasn’t that. I remember the night before the freshman-sophomore meet, I couldn’t walk. It was like a huge bump, I was icing it, I couldn’t even stand on it. That’s where I kind of remember it starting.”
Piotroski had an uneventful Freshman-Sophomore and Mercer County meet last year, but sectionals were a different story. And a kind of bizarre one.
Piotroski was led to believe the boys’ javelin would take place Saturday, but he still went to Northern Burlington High School in order to root on his teammates. It was then that he was informed Group III javelin was that evening.
“I was the only (Hornet) javelin thrower there,” he said. “The coaches told the bus driver to rush back to our school, and I told my uncle to drop the stuff off at the school, and they picked it up.”
By the time Piotroski’s javelin and uniform arrived, the official weighing the javelins was cleaning up and not in a good mood.
“He got frustrated that we were the last ones,” Piotroski said, with a chuckle. “I got in, my coaches were like, ‘Don’t worry you’ll probably be in the second flight.’ I was in the last guy in the first flight. I’m like ‘Oh man, I gotta throw now!’”
He managed to throw a 146 to sneak into the last spot in the finals and then threw a 151-11 to take fifth and advance to the Group III state meet.
“I was so stressed out, no one really expected that,” Piotroski said. “That was cool. I was really hyped up.”
Piotroski returned this spring still dealing with groin and shoulder issues. He was at first afraid he couldn’t throw with the shoulder, but he stretched it out and put some cushioning around it. As for the groin, that is something he will tend to after the season as he pushes the pain from his mind.
Entering the May 26-27 sectionals, the highlight of Piotroski’s junior season came at the Mercer Coaches meet. He led through virtually the whole sequence with a throw of 155 until the competitor right before him threw a 156 on his last attempt.
“My coach told me, ‘This where you show you’re clutch,’” Piotroski said. “I launched it. I thought, ‘Just go with it.’ You can’t really think about it too much or you won’t throw well.”
Piotroski promptly stepped up to throw a PR 157-4 to win the gold.
“As a coach, I would consider that the highlight of his season so far,” Folger said. “There’s nothing better than watching your athlete step up to the plate and get the job done. Jon is still learning that mindset plays a huge role in his potential success. That win for him was a great mental victory.”
And while he could not get the gold at the Mercer meet, Piotroski was not upset, as he tipped his cap to Steinert’s Cooper.
“Keon must have been training like crazy,” Piotroski said. “I give all the credit to him. He made a great throw. I almost PR’d, so it wasn’t a bad day. He just had a great day. I wasn’t going to catch that any time soon.”
Folger felt Piotroski’s effort was another good indication of his mindset.
“Jon was not in the first flight, and he watched Keon PR with that monster 182,” the coach said. “He was focused on his own success and did not let that throw psych him out. Our goal was to be over 160, but a second place finish right under his PR wasn’t a bad way to finish.”
Heading into sectionals, Piotroski and Folger both said the goal was to get back to states and fight for a top-6 finish that would get him to the Meet of Champions.
With one more year remaining, Piotroski is hoping to land with a college track and field program. If it all works out, it certainly would be a great new spin-off for the reality TV show, “Jon Piotroski: The College Years.” Without the misadventures, of course. He’s had quite enough of those.
A self-described “skinny guy,” Hamilton West’s Jon Piotroski has worked hard to overcome injuries and become one of Central Jersey’s top competitors in the javelin.,
