SDA track standout wins state titles in shot put, discusBefore the NJSIAA Parochial A track and field state championships began last weekend at Notre Dame in Lawrenceville, St. Dominic Academy veteran coach John Nagel was handed a bunch of programs, highlighting the weekend’s festivities, to be distributed to the members of his team.
While Nagel gave out the programs to most of the Blue Devils, he made sure that his standout shot putter and discus thrower Daria Zivanovic didn’t dare open hers.
“I had about a zillion copies of it, but I told Daria to take it and put it in her bag and not pay attention to it,” Nagel said.
There was a method to the coach’s madness.
“I knew that the discus record was attainable,” Nagel said. “But I didn’t want her to know what it was. Invariably, when a thrower is kind of trying to beat a record, they try to muscle it, instead of doing what they normally do. The discus is a finesse event. I knew her form was good and she was technically sound. She didn’t need another distraction.”
“When John gave me the little booklet, he didn’t want me to see it,” Zivanovic said. “I didn’t know why, but I guess he had a reason. So I went out to compete not knowing what it was. I had no pressure. I just went out to throw.”
Zivanovic said that she had no hopes and aspirations of winning either the shot put or discus events.
“I wasn’t expecting to win anything,” Zivanovic said. “I knew that it was good competition. I just wanted to do my best.”
As it turned out, Zivanovic did a little more than just her best.
“It turned out that it was my best,” Zivanovic said.
On Friday, Zivanovic won the gold medal in the shot put with a toss of 37-8.
A day later, Zivanovic went one better, setting a new meet record in the discus with a throw of 127-6, breaking the old mark by five inches, a mark that was set in 1989.
Two events, two state gold medals. Not bad for a young lady who transferred to St. Dominic Academy last year from the Academy of St. Aloysius, just trying to fit into the famed SDA track program. Now, she’s the most successful thrower in the school’s history. No other SDA thrower had ever won more than one gold medal at the state Parochial championships.
Only two other SDA performers, Liane Sullivan (1990) and former Hudson Reporter Athlete of the Year Cheri Selby (1995), had ever won two gold medals at a state championship meet before Zivanovic’s stellar outings last weekend.
“She’s very proficient at what she does,” Nagel said. “She’s also very consistent. It’s a very nice accomplishment for her. She works very hard and she’s improved a lot over last year when she first arrived, but I still think she’s a work in progress. It’s tough to win two at the state meet.”
Zivanovic said that she was pretty excited when she learned that she had toppled a meet record that stood for 15 years.
“I was pretty happy,” Zivanovic said. “Especially when I found out that the record had been there for so long. With the help of John and (assistant coach) Kier Delaney, I’ve become much better. I didn’t have a goal of wanting to throw a certain distance. I just wanted to do my best.”
Zivanovic was pleased that she qualified for the NJSIAA Meet of Champions, one of only two Hudson County athletes to compete in the meet. North Bergen’s Kevin Thompson, who finished third in the 100-meter dash and second in the 200-meters in the Group IV championships in Egg Harbor Township, also participated in the Meet of Champions.
“Whatever happens in the Meet of Champions is fine with me,” Zivanovic said. “I’m just happy to be there.”
It will be just the beginning of a hectic week for Zivanovic, who will compete in the Eastern Regionals at Mitchell Field on June 8 in the hammer throw, which is an event not offered in New Jersey high school meets, then will head to her native Serbia to compete for the rest of the summer.
“I have a competition there June 12,” Zivanovic said. “I’m excited about throwing the hammer for the first time in the United States. It will be a milestone for me, so I’m very excited.”
“In my 26 years of coaching, we’ve never had a hammer throw,” Nagel said. “So she’ll set a school record in the hammer with her first throw.”
All in all, it was a successful weekend for Zivanovic, who backed up her gold-medal winning performance in the shot put during the NJSIAA state indoor meet with two gold medals in the outdoor state meet.
“I’m just glad to be a part of it all,” Zivanovic said. “I’m working hard, so it’s nice to know that my hard work has paid off.”
And sent her to Serbia with two New Jersey state gold medals.