Aiken High freshman Eliza King has been throwing her javelin past everyone else’s all season long.
Friday night, she showed she can do that with someone else’s, too.
The start of the javelin throw at the Class AAAA state championship was delayed a bit, apparently because something was wrong with King’s javelin.
Throwing a loner didn’t change anything. Her throw of 136 feet was nearly 12 feet farther than her closest competitor’s, making her the state champion.
“Supposedly somebody was complaining or something. I don’t know exactly,” she said after stepping down from the medal stand at Spring Valley High School. “Somebody was thinking that I’ve got a wrong javelin. I was fine with it because, hey, I’m throwing a rubber-tipped javelin. They’re not the best javelins. Whatever javelin I’ve got, I just went with it. It didn’t bother me.”
“I just said, ‘You know what, their javelins might even be better.’ I just actually pushed all that stress and just threw it out there.”
King picked up the javelin, a technique-oriented event, three or four years ago at the club level. She’s proven to be a quick learner, and now she’s a state champion with plenty of time to put her name in the state record books.
“It feels great. I’m very excited,” she said. “I wish I could’ve PR’ed, but I’ve still really got a whole season left for USATF. But it feels great.”
Back down at the track, South Aiken’s Cailyn Johnson was working on a state championship of her own. The senior, who started the meet with a sixth-place finish in the long jump, backed up her Lower State title in the triple jump with a state championship performance of 36 feet, 8 inches.
Aiken High’s Antavious Lawton, Lower State champion in the 200- and 400-meter dashes, placed fourth and second, respectively, in those events at state.
Aiken’s Arianna Williams took third in the 100 hurdles, and the Hornets’ Sandi King added a sixth-place finish in the javelin.
Midland Valley’s Kaiya Wright and North Augusta’s Gabriel Beasley each brought home medals in the high jump by tying for third.
John Rhynes tied for seventh in the high jump, Synia Hillary-Davis was seventh in the shot put, Breasia Adams was eighth in the shot put, and Canaan Talbert was eighth in the 400.
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