It has been a work in progress, but javelin throwers across the state are starting to hit their strides in a big way.

The javelin is a relatively new event on the state track and field scene, so records are not totally established. However, distances continue to get better and records are being set on a regular basis.

In the past week, Brenner Waldrop set a new record at Aberdeen Central, while cross town Jean Anthony Thomas established a new record at Aberdeen Roncalli.

The search to find a better way to compete in the sport has been a joint venture.

“I think both athletes and the coaches, we’ve been trying to learn this together for the last 4 or 5 years. There probably weren’t a lot of high school programs that had a knoweledgable or experienced javelin coach on their staff,” said Roncalli co-coach Mark Stone. “Largely, I think the coaches have tried to learn that along with the athletes, maybe just try to be a step ahead of them, so we can help them be effective and reach some measure of potential.”

Faulkton, which already owns a state championship in the event, was able to connect with a former college athlete who has experience in the javelin.

“We have a guy, Jake Kaiser, who threw that in college, and he has come and worked with my athletes,” said Faulkton coach Chad Spicer. “He does things so well. He’s technically sound. … You can tell that his teaching is going through them.”

Like many coaches, Spicer began watching videos when javelin was first introduced in South Dakota track and field circles. However, that only helped so much.

“I sat there and watched video after video after video, and I’m sitting there worrying,” Spicer said, “because I’ve never thrown the javelin before.”

Stone went through the same situation with the videos before Roncalli found a coach with experience in the event. Rachel (Guthmiller) Bachmeier won a state championship in the discus in high school while competing for Sully Buttes, and then became a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference champion in the javelin while at Northern State.

“We now have a coach among us who’s already been through the learning curve on the jav. She herself threw that,” Stone said. “Well, inevitably she’s going to have a perspective on that, both because of what she learned from her coaches, and also what she experienced as a thrower herself. She did that a high level.”

As more and more information becomes available, the javelin distances continue to get better.

And as Stone pointed out, track and field coaches are often willing to help share ideas with other coaches in the interest of promoting their sport.

“That’s a sport where coaches aren’t afraid to have those conversations,” Stone said.

Faulkton not only has a defending state champion on its team (Spencer Melius), it also has the top thrower in Class B boys right now in Weston Senn.

Spicer said the improvement from the first year to now has been noticeable.

“When you sat there and looked at the first year, if you threw 130 you were probably in the top five,” Spicer said. “You throw 130 right now and you might not be making it to state.”

Spicer said technique plays a key role for those competing in the javelin.

“You just kind of can see it. It’s so technical,” Spicer said. “You want to throw it like a baseball, and it is nothing to do like throwing a baseball.”

As throwers continue to refine their techniques and find better ways to throw the javelin, look for records to continue to fall at a pace much faster than other events.

“You’ll probably see some frequency to those javelin records, both at the individual school level but then also at the leaderboard, javelin will probably turn itself over way more than the other events, just simply because it is the newer one,” Stone said. “A lot of the other records are established.”

LEADING THE WAY

There is a trio of athletes who lead three open events in this week’s leaders.

Tate Grabow of Hill City tops the Class A 800-meter, 1,600-meter and 3,200-meter runs, Bergan Musser of Lennox tops the field in the 100-meter, 200-meter and the long jump, and Rush O’Neill of Bennett County is the leader in the Class B 100-meter, high jump and long jump.

There are nine other athletes who lead a pair of open events, including Milbank’s Sam Rick in the Class A pole vault and triple jump, and Northwestern’s Ella Boekelheide in the Class B 800-meter and 1,600-meter runs.

BY THE NUMBERS

Sioux Falls Christian is setting the pace among team leaders, topping nine events in Class A girls. Sioux Falls Lincoln leads eight events in Class AA boys.

Other team leaders include Rapid City Stevens in Class AA girls (four events), Hill City and Lennox in Class A boys (four events each), Philip in Class B boys (five events), and Bennett County in Class B girls (five events).