AUSTIN – The first event for the Aggie men at the NCAA West preliminary round produced three javelin qualifiers for the NCAA Championships in Des Moines with Sam Humphreys, Devin Bogert and Jon Gomez.
Humphreys, who was an NCAA bronze medalist last year and fifth as a freshman in 2010, needed just one throw to claim the top position in the field. His mark of 255 feet, 8 inches (77.94) is the third best performance on the A&M all-time list for the Aggie school record holder.
“That was one of the main things I wanted to do today, save the body for a bigger meet,” Humphreys said. “I’m happy that it came on the first one and I could relax on the rest. The past day I was a little tight, and I got that stretched out. I had confidence I could go out there and get one good throw.”
Devin Bogert snared a pair of career best marks on just two throws in the competition. Bogert, a freshman with the Aggies who threw 222-10 for runner-up honors at the Big 12 meet, opened with a best of 232-7 (70.89) and then improved to 236-1 (71.97) in round two. The mark places Bogert No. 7 on the A&M all-time list.
Finishing between the pair of Aggies was Pac-12 champion Sam Crouser of Oregon (251-8 / 76.70) and defending NCAA champion Tim Glover of Illinois State (246-6 / 75.13).
“I knew these past couple of meets were big one’s to set me up and get me to nationals,” Bogert said. “I felt pretty good today and everything seemed to come together well as the same time.
“I was able to throw in practice this last week and get some more practice under my belt since then. That one throwing session really helped to tie everything together with all the loose ends. All the little technical things came together. I could focus on being quick and fast, just letting it go.”
Down to his final throw of his Aggie career, senior Jon Gomez produced a personal best of 224-7 (68.45) to advance to the final three rounds in eighth place. Gomez had opened with a 188-4 and then fouled on his next attempt. His best effort ranks No. 12 on the A&M all-time list.
“My first throw wasn’t good, then my second one I just got crowded,” noted Gomez. “I was sitting there wondering if this was how I was going to finish my season and end my career.
Waiting to see if he needed to take another throw in the final three rounds, Gomez passed each round and finished 10th to earn a trip to the NCAA Championship weekend.
“When I was getting ready for my third throw Sam told me to watch the tip of my javelin,” explained Gomez. “I knew I needed to keep my tip down. When I threw I made sure I wasn’t fouling by stepping over the line. I didn’t even see how the throw went, so I wasn’t sure how far it went. Someone told me it was a good throw, and then I heard the mark.
“It was really surprising. The fact that it was a personal best caught me more by surprise than the fact that it was going to qualify me. Then the waiting game through the final three rounds was worse than waiting for my last through in the third round. It was a huge relief when I knew I didn’t need to throw again.”
Humphreys added: “I’m supremely excited that I’m having two teammates in the javelin come along with me to nationals. The past two years it’s just been me, so now I’ll have two more guys to hang out with.”
