Two of the state’ finest female high school throwers will continue their careers in college.
Ocean Township High School’s Michelle Mazza is headed to the University of Mississippi, while Red Bank Regional High School’s Sarena Dixon is staying a little closer to home and joining head coach Joe Compagni’s Monmouth University team.
“It was a difficult decision,” Mazza said of her choice to go to Oxford, Mississippi. “It was kind of far away.”
Despite her concern for distance from home, the coaches and the atmosphere at Mississippi won her over.
Mississippi’s throwing coach is Mariam Kevkhisvili-Machavariani, a two-time Olympian for her native country, Georgia, and a five-time NCAA champion in the shot put at the University of Florida.
Mazza is well aware of the rivalries in the Southeast Conference and pointed out that she already hates the University of Alabama.
Dixon will join a Monmouth team that has been outstanding at turning out All-American throwers. The Hawks had four throwers qualify for the NCAA Regionals this past spring.
Jon Kalnas, a three-time All-American and Olympic Trials qualifier, is Monmouth’s standard-bearer in the throws.
Monmouth also happens to be an outstanding team. Both the men and women won the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference outdoor championships the last two years.
Mazza and Dixon had tremendous senior years.
Mazza won the Monmouth County and NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III shot put championships during the indoor season and improved her personal best under cover to 42-10. Outdoors, she threw 40-0 or better in every championship event and improved her school record to 43-2. She was sixth in the indoor and outdoor Meet of Champions.
Dixon’s outdoor campaign included a school record 43-6½ throw in winning the Monmouth County tile. She also won the Central Jersey Group III championship and was runner-up in Group III. She also took third in the discus at the state sectional. She was named Red Bank Regional’s Outstanding Female Athlete.
The highlight for both throwers was the Monmouth County championship in Holmdel, where they and Red Bank Regional’s Fidele Jules put on the greatest shot put competition in the meet’s history, as all three set personal bests and broke the meet record. Dixon won with her 43-6½ toss that bested Jules’ 43-6. Mazza settled for third with a 43-2 mark.
“It was the best competition I’ve ever been in,” Mazza said. “We all broke the meet record. I was happy for all three of us. It was a great meet.”
“It was really insane,” Dixon said in a prepared statement from the high school. “I wasn’t having a great day and went into the finals seeded third. It was a very close competition, and I just edged [Mazza and Jules] out.”
Besides being great throwers, Dixon and Mazza are outstanding students as well. Dixon was a National Math Honors Society member, who tutored her peers. She is majoring in accounting at Monmouth.
Mazza was a Joetta Clark Diggs Sports Foundation Scholarship Award winner last year. She is going to major in exercise science at Ole Miss.