Track and field just got a little more interesting.

Well, interesting and maybe a little scary.

Last year, the javelin throw was introduced by the Missouri State High School Activities Association. While the javelin throw was a part of the state meet last spring, it was not scored for team points. An athlete could medal, but it would not count towards a team score. Because of this, the majority of schools chose not to implement it. However, MSHSAA did officially implement the javelin throw into the state meet for the 2017 season.

“At first, I was very skeptical of high school athletes attempting to throw the javelin. It’s an event where we have to be extremely careful because it is a little dangerous,” head coach Jeff Stoffey said. “But the kids have responded very well with it. It has created some excitement.”

The Windsor athletes threw the javelin for the first time on Friday, March 31, at Park Hills. The area was a little wet, which caused some apprehension for the athletes and coaches.

“I could tell they were all a little nervous. Since it was wet, it made it difficult for the kids to plant their foot and throw,” Stoffey said.

Tori Bowen, Bella Marco, Jason Deckard, Jacob Vaughn and Grant Hogan have all thrown at meets this season. At the Mineral Area Relays on Saturday, April 8, Deckard came within 1.5 inches of winning the meet. Deckard’s best throw was 128-feet-7 inches.

“I have been extremely impressed with how quick Jason has picked up the event. He threw pretty well at Park Hills (114 feet), but he really showed what he is capable of at Herculaneum,” Stoffey said.

Deckard has enjoyed throwing the javelin this season.

Deckard said,“ It was really easy for me to learn and pick up the technique with javelin. It is by far my favorite event to do in track and my main goal this season is to work hard and do my best and hopefully make it to state.  When doing javelin, it’s not just about picking up a pole and throwing it. You have to remember that nature is a factor. Recently, we’ve had some windy days and the javelin is only a pound and a half, which makes it soar through the sky, but it can also make it drift to the side a lot.”

Bowen has goals other than just winning.

“My main goal in javelin is to not die,” Bowen said jokingly. “I’ve been practicing hard to compete at state.  Javelin is super fun and I enjoy practice but the only hard thing to pick up was the approach, the steps you had to take before throwing it and getting the form down was really hard itself.”

Bowen, Marco, Deckard and Vaughn will next compete in the javelin throw on Thursday at Farmington.