Despite never having run track before this winter, Casinelli, along with his fellow Carl Lewis teammates, travelled to Iowa this summer to represent New Jersey in the Amateur Athletic Union Junior Olympics.
It all started with a run. Eighth grader Ryan Casinelli was at the Mount Laurel YMCA with his father this past winter when he ran into a coach from Carl Lewis Stars Track Club. He said he and his father were approached, and he was asked to run for Carl Lewis. He accepted.
Despite never having run track before this winter, Casinelli, along with his fellow Carl Lewis teammates, travelled to Iowa this summer to represent New Jersey in the Amateur Athletic Union Junior Olympics where he competed in four events.
Casinelli said he thinks it’s a bit of good luck that brought him to Carl Lewis. He said he joined in December and started training shortly thereafter. He said he had to learn from the ground up.
He said he was introduced to sprinting and the various events that go with it. Along the way, his times started to improve. He said he went from 1 minute and 1 second to 55 seconds running the 400-meter.
Casinelli said the training leading up the Junior Olympics was “brutal.”
“It was much more than I ever have doen in my life,” Casinelli said. “It really did pay off. My numbers were dropping like crazy.”
Casinelli said he practiced three or four days a week with Carl Lewis all the while also competing on his high school baseball team. He said he would sometimes go from his practice at school to Ryan Lewis.
The team competed at both a regional and district qualifier to make it to the Junior Olympics this July. Casinelli said arriving in Iowa was a complete shock. He said he’d never run in front of that many people before, and between the crowds, jumbo screens and filming for television, it was all a bit surreal. After his first race, Casinelli was able to play back his run on television and see himself.
While in Iowa, Casinelli competed in the 100-meter, 200-meter, 4 x 100 meter and 4 x 400 meter. He said in his first heat for the 100 meter, he came in fourth place. He came in 48th overall in the 100 meter and did not advance to the next round, which was the top 25.
His four-man team was ranked 10th after the preliminary round of the 4×100 relay. He said that was one of his better races looking back.
He said he realizes how lucky he was to make it to the Junior Olympics at all after only six months of running. He said some runners train for six years and never make it.
“He’s really raw, but he has a lot of potential,” said Horace Taylor, one of Casinelli’s coaches at Carl Lewis. “He’s a natural.”
Casinelli said he plans to join his William Allen Middle School track team, and his goal for the upcoming year is to break the 100-meter record.
