Rexburg Track Athlete Throw Javelin For The First Time
Senior Nathan Sanders, Madison track javelin thrower.
In Idaho, Javelin has been banned from being practiced in high schools because it is a very dangerous event. Some states it isn’t banned from being practiced. On April 13th and 14th, some of Madison’s track and field athletes went to Logan, Utah for the Grizzly meet. This meet is what determines if you can qualify to compete in districts. With Utah being one of the 14 other states that allows javelin to be practiced in their high schools, this was an exciting thing for the athletes.
Madison Senior track athlete Nathan Sanders was able to go down to Utah and throw javelin for our high school on April 13.
“It was good, at the beginning it was really cold cause the sun wasn’t showing through really then it started raining a little bit, then near the middle it started getting pretty sunny. I don’t know how I did in javelin but I threw 113 feet so I guess that wasn’t really bad for my first time, but I hurt my elbow pretty bad. The coaches just helped and worked with me on the techniques of javelin,” Sanders said.
Javelin is a tricky sport to practice and get good at if all you’ve ever thrown is discus and shot put. For shot put for men is at least 16 pounds, the technique is you stand at the back of the circle with the shot put against your neck looking away from the field, then spin and extend your arm straight forward the momentum should carry the ball. Discus is the same but it’s a disc instead of a heavy metal ball.
‘The way you throw javelin is like completely different than the way you throw shot put and discus you also have to run to the javelins speed that’s also different,” Sanders said.
It’s hard for people to practice javelin with it being banned they may be able to practice the techniques but without the actual javelin in their hand. They need to feel the weight and how to throw it correctly so they don’t get hurt. This is why Idaho should allow javelin to be practiced in high schools so that people who want to try it know the correct way to throw.
“I didn’t get to place at all in javelin hopefully next time I might be able to. I think javelin should be legal in Idaho high schools because it’s fun to learn how to throw the javelin,” Sanders said.
