Jay Stell will cap a phenomenal first year at the United States Naval Academy by not only representing his school, but also representing his country in Colombia next month. Stell, a Carlsbad native and a 2012 graduate of Loving High, earned a spot on Team USA for the 2013 Pan American Junior Games, which will be held Aug. 23-25 in Medellín, Colombia. Countries from North America and South America compete at the Pan Am Games and athletes between the ages of 16 and 19 are eligible for the Junior Games. “It’s just a dream to be a part of Team USA,” Stell said. “It was exciting to find out that I had that opportunity and it was great to actually make the team.” In the javelin event, the 6-foot-3 Stell competed at the USA Junior Outdoor Track and Field Championships in June in Des Moines, Iowa, and placed fourth with a throw of 211 feet, 3 inches (64.4 meters). The top two finishers in each event with a world-qualifying distance make the national team. So even though Stell’s performance at the national meet was only good for fourth, he already had surpassed the world standard of 218-12 (66.50m) twice. The second- and third-place finishers had not. Stell’s performance in Des Moines was just the latest in a series of surprises from the rising sophomore. Stell won 12 letters while competing in four sports at Loving. He took up the javelin as a high school sophomore at the behest of Loving coaches, and one year later (2011) was a Class 2A state champion...more
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