Athlete spears scholarship

Javelin Thrower Casey Garbaty is shuffling off to buffalo

Posted By SCOTT STEPHENSON, THE OBSERVER

Casey Garbaty's decision to stay at Northern Collegiate for a fifth year of high school proved to be the right one after all.

Garbaty, a five-time Lambton Secondary Schools Athletic Association javelin champion, is off to the University at Buffalo next month on a partial athletic scholarship.

"The reason I came back is because I wasn't sure what I wanted to do," explained the 19-year-old, who first caught the attention of Buffalo's assistant track and field coach Steve Esler at the 2007 OFSAA high school championships where Garbaty won a gold medal.

"He was a phenomenal thrower. Underdeveloped physically but had a ton of potential," Esler told The Observer of his first impressions of Garbaty.

Esler, who also witnessed Garbaty's silver medal performance at the OFSAA championships in June, said he is looking forward to working with Garbaty after he arrives on campus on Aug. 21.

"I think he can be competing at a national level as early as his freshman year and go on to the national championships," Esler said. "He's already throwing at what we call our regional level right now, and he'd be able to compete with anybody in the East and make that high level of competition."

Esler added, "By the time he's done we'd like to see him be the first male All American to come out of UB in track and field."

Garbaty says he's looking forward to the challenges of college life and helping the Bulls do well in the NCAA's Mid-American Conference.

"It will be an experience. I'm looking forward to it," he said.

Garbaty said if things hadn't worked out they way they have, he'd likely be enrolled in the mechanical technician program at Lambton College in September instead of heading to Buffalo to join the Bulls track and field team.

Garbaty says he hasn't decided yet on a major course of study at UB. He'll make that decision before second year.

In competition, Garbaty's personal best throw with an 800 gram javelin, the same weight as he'll be throwing in the NCAA, is 63.64 metres.

Garbaty, who took up javelin in Grade 9 after learning ball throw wasn't a high school event, credits his coaches Shelly Pretty at Northern and Joel Skinner (at Sarnia Athletics Southwest) with helping him develop as an athlete.

"He's done a good job since he started with the 600 gram javelin," Skinner says of Garbaty's development through high school. "I think he started out throwing javelin based on his arm motion in baseball and sometimes it's a tough transfer, but he's always been a pretty technically good javelin thrower so that made it easier for Shelly and I."

Skinner said Garbaty's attitude towards the sport is what makes him excel in practice and competition.

"Casey has always wanted to come to practice and always dedicated to his high school program and definitely dedicated to the club program. It's got him a long way. I'm sure it got him past where he originally thought that javelin might take him," said Skinner.

"'I'm definitely proud of him for making the decision that he did. There's nothing wrong with the original decision that he had but I think opportunities will open up for him from taking this scholarship. I think throwing javelin for a few more years at a serious level is definitely a lot of fun and he should take advantage of that."

Parents Henry and Barbara are both happy with how Casey's decision turned out.

"We're very proud of Casey and his accomplishments," said Henry Garbaty.

"He's a good athlete. He's a great kid. Both my wife Barb and myself are very proud of what he's done now and looking forward to doing a lot more travelling to meets in the United States to see him pursue his goal of becoming one of the better javelin throwers in Canada."