BOULDER — When it came time for Delaney Hall to pick a college where she could throw the javelin, the Oregon native wanted nothing to do with the national track power in her home state, even though it’s one of the most storied programs in the sport.
“My family is Oregon State fans, so that was problem No. 1,” Hall said with mischievous grin. “I definitely wasn’t going to Oregon.”
That antipathy created a nice opening for Casey Malone, a two-time Olympian who coaches the throwers at the University of Colorado. Recruiting javelin throwers can be problematic for him because Colorado is one of the many states that don’t offer javelin in high school track. Malone recruited Hall to Boulder and she has won three times this season as a sophomore.
“I just loved CU when I came here,” Hall said, “and I loved Casey.”
Hall is from Lakeview, Ore., a town of 2,000 near the California border with “definitely more cattle than people.” She won two Class 3A state high school titles and wishes Colorado high school athletes had the opportunity to compete in her event, which traces its history to ancient Olympia in 708 B.C.
“I don’t know what’s holding them back,” Hall said. “There are so many athletes that are missing the opportunity do something they could excel at. It’s 2017, I’d say it’s time that everybody gets to throw the jav.”
Fewer than 20 states offer high school javelin, and certainly there are risks. Last June an 18-year-old Oregon track standout was impaled through his eye socket after he stubbed his toe and stumbled while attempting to retrieve his javelin which was sticking out of the ground. He made a full recovery and is now a red-shirt decathlete at Washington.
“The javelin is seen as being more dangerous than the discus or the shot put, but I’ve seen or heard of more injuries on a national level coming from the discus or the shot put,” Malone said. “Pole vault is the most dangerous.”
Hall loves the challenge of javelin, which requires strength, flexibility, power and agility combined in a highly technical but artistic symmetry of movement. Speed is important, but the thrower must come to a complete stop in the throwing motion.
“Hopefully you’re going from almost a full sprint to hitting the brakes at the end and launching this spear,” Hall said. “It’s like a dance, there’s a rhythm to it.”
In the recruiting process Malone was intrigued by Hall’s athletic versatility. In high school she also competed in sprints and long jump, and she was the star point guard on her basketball team. She’s such a good athlete, in fact, Malone has her throwing the hammer, too. They might seem to be contradictory events because a women’s javelin weights 21 ounces and a hammer weighs almost nine pounds.
“It’s a linear motion versus turning in circles,” Hall said. “They require power coming from different places. They are kind of like opposites in a way, but they both require you to be quick and have good balance.”
But the combination made sense to Malone, a graduate of Arvada West and Colorado State who was sixth in the discus at the 2004 Olympics. Javelin throwers avoid throwing every day because it’s so hard on shoulders and elbows. Hammer gave her something to do on other workout days.
“Everything you do in javelin is front-sided,” Malone said. “The hammer, you get to use that posterior side of your body. To some degree it’s a training effect I’m looking for, to counter-balance some of the effects of throwing the javelin.”
But javelin, an event that is 2,725 years old, remains Hall’s first love. She hopes to compete as a professional when she’s done at CU.
“It’s been around for so long, and it’s always changing,” Hall said. “People are learning new things and seeing what works for them doesn’t always work for other people. It’s amazing to see what people are doing with the sport now.”
