Spears of Experience: As a three time national champion from the University of Arkansas, the new javelin coach Alex Springer is hoping to improve both the varsity and JV throwers

After earning three national championship rings with the University of Arkansas with a personal-best throw of 65.92m, new East javelin Coach Alex Springer helps both new and returning throwers prepare for their first varsity and JV track and field meets on March 22 and 28.

During his college career, Springer went from not competing the entirety of his sophomore year to flying up to eighth place in Razorback program history his senior year. 

“I’m really glad I got to throw in college,” Springer said. “I did pretty well and I think East has some real potential right now.”

But Springer didn’t always have a passion for the Olympian competition — when he was in high school he was cut from his baseball team and tried out for track and field the very same day on a whim. 

Developing his throwing skills from baseball, he decided to give javelin a shot, leading him to become a full-fledged athletic prospect for the class of 2014 at Shawnee Mission Northwest as well as the class of 2018 with the Razorbacks.  

This year, Springer is excited to set a new base standard for East’s javelin program, while still focusing on the base fundamentals of the event.

“Javelin is a very technical sport,” Springer said. “I plan on setting a good foundation and making sure to set us on the right path during the time that I’m here.”

Taking javelin to new heights is long overdue, as East hasn’t ever placed in the top three at state, leaving lots of room for improvement, according to Springer. 

The team’s throwers are already getting accustomed to the new coach, as senior Austin Merchant sees the new coach as a vast improvement, and is ready to see where Springer takes the team.

“We’ll do pretty good, we have some good throwers with a lot of potential this year,” Merchant said. “[Springer] is way better than last year’s coach, and for all I know, most coaches before I even went to East.” 

It’s not just experienced throwers that are ready for the upcoming meets — even first-time throwers are excited to compete at their next competition on March 28. Junior and thrower Pearson Hardy already has a positive introduction to throwing by making varsity for shotput and possibly javelin in the future, with no previous experience.

Hardy decided to try out for track and field for the first time this year spontaneously, and when he had to see how far he could throw a softball to test his arm strength, he he exceeded his own expectations with an over 200-foot throw — much farther than most, with an average throw of a little over 100 feet being most common. 

“After I threw [the softball] they told me to throw javelin,” Hardy said. “I’d never done it before but the new coach has been a big help in getting my form down right.”

Having an experienced and highly-decorated coach also improves team morale, as it’s easier to follow the instruction of someone who has three national championship rings, according to Hardy.

The optimistic outlook of East’s javelin team has encouraged many track athletes to give javelin a shot, with more participants this year than there have been in the past three years. Track is all about trying new things — that’s why there’s so many different events.

Hardy and Merchant are just two of many throwers anxious to see how far Springer’s coaching will take the program, as throwing far and going far are one in the same.