BROCKWAY, Pa. (EYT/D9) — Aiden Grieneisen wonders sometimes what would have happened had he said no.
One of his good friends, Brockway senior Chloe Benden, is a track and field standout at DuBois Central Catholic as part of a co-op between the two schools.
Benden had been relentless in her efforts to recruit Grieneisen, also a Brockway senior, into joining the track and field team as a thrower.
Finally, Grieneisen said yes. Since he agreed to give track a try, he has made a meteoric rise in the javelin and has become one of the best in District 9.
(Pictured above, Brockway senior and DuBois Central Catholic thrower Aiden Grieneisen gets ready to let the javelin fly)
“Her dad is actually the throwing coach,” Grieneisen said. “She wanted me to go out. I was thinking about throwing the shot put, and then I found the javelin. I just had the right build to throw it.”
Grieneisen’s first throw sailed more than 100 feet. Each time he sprinted down the runway, cocked his strong right arm back, and let the javelin fly, it traveled farther.
At each meet, he added 20 feet to his distance. Then in mid-April, with the conversion from the weighted javelins, he snapped a record at DCC that had stood for five decades with a heave of 158 feet, 4 inches.
A week later, he broke his own record — and the DCC mark outright — with a 164-7 effort at the Keystone Invitational.
Both of those throws would have been good enough to place at the PIAA Track and Field Championships last season.
Even Grieneisen is surprised by his rapid success.
“It’s so cool,” Grieneisen said. “I’ve always wanted something like that, to get my name in the record books. It’s been awesome. I’m just putting in the work, getting prepared for districts coming up and some of the bigger meets like the Redbank Invitational.”
Grieneisen admits he’s very raw when it comes to his technique. No surprise there — he wasn’t even certain how to hold the javelin correctly when he first started. He’s been getting by on pure brawn and said he believes if he can take a crash course in javelin throwing mechanics 101, he can add a lot more distance to his throws.
Scary thought for someone who just six weeks ago had never even entertained the thought of throwing one.
“I definitely need to work on my starting position,” Grieneisen said. “I’m not very good at pacing off. I just kind of estimate where I’m throwing from. I definitely need to work on my run-up and things like that.”
Grieneisen has been hard at work.
He has some big goals in the event now, even with the late start.
Grieneisen has made a habit of being somewhat tardy to the party.
The 6-foot-4 Grieneisen didn’t join the Brockway football team until his junior season and ended up quickly becoming one of the best offensive and defensive linemen in District 9.
His sack on a 2-point conversion play with a minute remaining against Keystone sealed a 21-20 win for the Rovers last October. As a senior, he had 45 tackles and five sacks for Brockway, which reached the D9 championship game.
“Head injuries were always the concern for my mom about playing football,” Grieneisen said. “I started lifting my sophomore year and just got bigger and then she finally decided to let me go out.”
Grieneisen has always been a clutch performer and that has proven to be true when it comes to throwing the javelin.
The better the competition, the better he has performed.
He hopes that bodes well for him as the calendar flips to May and the meets get bigger and more important.
“I’ve had a competitive edge my whole life,” he said. “Adrenaline drives me, just getting that extra oomph behind my throws.
“I’ve noticed I tend to match the competition,” Grieneisen added. “I feel when I get to districts, I’ll be able to compete with some of the top names around. I believe I can make it to the state meet.”
Once there, who knows?
All it takes is one huge throw and Grieneisen could go from not throwing the javelin one year to a state medalist the event in the next.
And he’ll have Benden to thank.
“Yeah, she’s a pretty good recruiter,” Grieneisen said, chuckling. “She lets me know about it a lot.”
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