Gateway’s Dino Nadarevic caps season with PIAA shot put medal

By: Michael Love
Sunday, June 2, 2024 | 11:01 AM

Last year, Dino Nadarevic didn’t make the WPIAL championship meet as he was starting out throwing the shot put and discus in his first season with the Gateway track and field team.

It’s been a whole new ballgame for Nadarevic this spring, and this season of firsts concluded May 24-25 at the PIAA Class 3A championships at Shippensburg.

“The whole experience was amazing,” said Nadarevic, who punched his ticket to states with a pair of medal-winning performances at the WPIAL championships May 15 at Slippery Rock.

Up first for Nadarevic on the first day May 24 was the shot put. He earned an automatic qualifying berth with his fourth-place finish at WPIALs (53 feet, 8½ inches). He came in seeded 12th.

But in order to make it to the medals podium at states, he had to perform in the three throws of the preliminaries.

His first throw was 53-9½. His second and third throws of the prelims were above 50 feet, but didn’t surpass his first throw.

The best from the prelims was enough to put him as one of the top nine to reach the final set of three throws.

After a foul on his first throw of the finals, he popped a 54-8¼ which put him in seventh.

“Fouling in shot or discus happens,” Nadarevic said. “It happens to everyone. It only takes one good throw to set yourself up. I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it. I knew what I was capable of, so I just went out there, calmed myself down and made a good throw.”

His last throw was 52-10¾, but he didn’t lose any ground and finished seventh.

“I felt great in the shot put,” Nadarevic said. “Everything started perfectly. I got there a little early and warmed up nicely, and then we got into the competition. You get to the finals and you never know.”

Of the top eight who reached the medals stand, four of them were from the WPIAL, led by Fox Chapel senior Mason Miles in third (58-4½).

New Castle senior Jaden Kirkwood was fourth, and Hempfield senior Peyton Murray was sixth.

“It was great to see,” Nadarevic said. “We’re all good friends, and we’re also competitors. We all want to be the best, whether we are going up against each other or anyone else, but it was cool to see all of us finish the way we did.”

Nadarevic came back for the discus May 25 hoping to build on a fifth-place finish and 154-2 distance from WPIALs.

He came in seeded 21st and moved up four spots to 17th, but his best attempt, a 144-11 on his last throw of three in the prelims, wasn’t exactly what he was hoping for.

“It wasn’t my best performance. I fouled on my first two throws,” Nadarevic said. “I had a bad release (on the third throw), and honestly, I was surprised it went 144 feet.”

Nadarevic said he never had a competition with that many talented throwers before.

“The top throwers in the state, everyone was there, and I was one of them,” he said.

“I came in relaxed knowing that I had trained a whole year for that. I knew what I could do. I didn’t want to let any little nervousness mess with my confidence. It was a special feeling to be a part of it all. I was able to observe and take things from watching some of the other throwers. It was just a lot of fun, both days. States motivated me even more.”

Nadarevic will enter his senior season with his sights set on a pair of school records: 63-1½ in the shot and 172-3 in the discus.

He recorded a personal best of 57-6 in the shot in winning the event at the South Fayette Invitational.

His best in the discus, a 168-3, came in a runner-up performance at the Baldwin Invitational.

Continued work in the circle, Nadarevic said, will continue into the summer.

“The job is definitely not done,” Nadarevic said. “I am going to work with my coach to see what I can do to add distance to my throws. I am happy with what I accomplished this year, but I am not satisfied. I am coming back focused on getting double gold.”

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Gateway