West Monroe junior Jaxon Talley certainly wasted no time getting his outdoor season kicked off in style. Talley, who has finished as the LHSAA Class 5A runner-up in the javelin for two consecutive years, launched a throw of 213-9 on Saturday at the D&H Sports High School Meet on the campus of ULM. The throw is currently No. 1in the nation.
"It was my first throw!," Talley said. "As soon as it left my hand, I knew it was going to be a good one. Watching it fly was so satisfying."
It was satisfying for spectators and meet management alike. Many times, the javelin is contested outside of the stadium. Not at ULM, where Talley was able to show off in front of the hometown crowd at Brown Stadium.
"I've been working very hard during the offseason," Talley said. "I knew my hard work would pay off. I'm very blessed to start the season with a great opener and I'm excited to see where this season takes me."
If you look at the MileSplit USA rankings, you won't find Talley's name yet because the results from this morning's meet have not been formatted. However, you will find another Louisiana boy who held the title of "best javelin thrower in the nation" for one day.
St. Thomas More's Slade Boudreaux, who is only a freshman, had a great opener on Friday at the Charles Lancon Invite, letting a javelin fly out to 206-10. With Talley's performance, Boudreaux now moves to No. 2 in the nation.
Boudreaux won the meet by less than a foot. Ascension Episcopal's Branon Mitchell was third with a throw of 205-11.
Both Talley and Boudreaux were among 150 javelin throwers at the Louisiana Track & Field Camp during the last weekend of January at LSU. The camp, which was started in 1997, is under the direction of Rob Woosley and Tom Pukstys, six-time US national javelin champion.
"Jaxon comes down and trains every couple of months and attends camp," Woosley said. "He is immensely talented. He's a big kid who understands how to throw the javelin. He's in line with guys like Paul Catalanatto, Jack Larriviere, and Jackson Rimes. An elite high school thrower. Very, very talented."
"Slade came a few months ago and the first time we saw him we were like 'wow.'," Woosley said. "This kid is going to figure it out. He's not real big. In fact, he is the opposite of Jaxon. He just makes it fly. We weren't surprised that he threw far, but 206-10? We've never had a freshman throw the javelin that far."
EDITOR'S NOTE: Check back here Monday for an in-depth interview with the No. 1 javelin thrower in the nation--West Monroe's Jaxon Talley