NBNO Notebook: Javelin Gold raising profile of event

By Brian Towey for DyeStat

GREENSBORO N.C. -- Far from the action at Aggie Stadium, tucked beneath a tree in a shady area on a warmup field, javelin guru Jeff Gorski held court.

The former USATF High Performance Chairman for the javelin and a coach with the National Scholastic Athletic Federation's Project Javelin Gold program, which connects promising American javelin throwers with top-notch coaching, Gorski spoke about technique, why you don't need to be muscle-bound to be a great javelin thrower and other practical advice about his life's passion: throwing the spear.

"For lack of a better term, there's an apprenticeship to any of this," Gorski said. "There's an apprenticeship to the pole vault. There's an apprenticeship for the hammer. There's an apprenticeship for the javelin, where, you have to learn the technique, the rhythm, the timing of the whole package and then, you can break down the individual aspects, and improve that."

Barry Krammes was one of those in the audience at one of Gorski's talks years ago, in Columbus, Ohio. A former All-American thrower at Division II East Stroudsburg (Pa.) University, for Krammes it proved to be a life-changing experience.

"I was a 213-foot thrower at East Stroudsburg," said Krammes, who coaches the javelin at East Stroudsburg South High.

"I went to the clinic in Columbus and it all started to click. I went to the Slippery Rock meet and threw 225 feet. Next I went to an open meet and threw 75.50 meters (247-8) -- that qualified me for the US Olympic Trials.

"I was seeded 18th at the Trials and I finished fifth and I was chosen to represent the USA in Birmingham, England. I went from wearing the ESU Division II jersey to representing the United States."

Krammes runs a gym in East Stroudsburg called "The Javelin Factory" where he works with javelin throwers. He also works clinics for Project Javelin Gold.

"I feel like in America the javelin is treated like a second-class sport," Krammes said. "In Finland, it's the national sport. I want kids to know that it's OK to love the javelin, to be passionate about the sport."

To serve this purpose, Gorski and Krammes spoke about the American JavFest, which will take place at East Stroudsburg High in East Stroudsburg, Pa. on July 7-9.

It is a full-blown celebration of the javelin, with a lower-level high school competition on Friday, July 7. That evening there will be a roundtable discussion of the javelin with top coaches from around the country, among them Gorkski and Project Javelin Gold instructors Tom Putskys and Duncan Atwood. Krammes said that he's also inviting Philadelphia-area javelin guru Dr. Bob Sing.

On July 8, there will be clinics involving top instructors which are welcome to everyone.

On July 9 there will be an elite high school javelin competition and an Olympic Development competition. Last year Mississippi State's Curtis Thompson won the men's event with a throw of 260-11, while Olympic Trials finalist Kim Hamilton won the women's competition at 186-6.

Here is the American JavFest website:  http://www.nationalscholastic.org/americanjavfest

Project Javelin Gold was started to ensure that more American throwers could compete at a world level. The American JavFest is an extension of that notion, and a way to appreciate this great event.

Salmon takes alternate route

Brooklyn native Paula Salmon, who finished fifth in the 100-meter hurdles in 13.64, ran unattached this school year after previously representing Clara Barton High (she was the runner-up in the 100 hurdles to Robeson's Alyssa Sandy at the New York State Division I Championship last year).

"I started training with the boys team at Clara Barton and I kept training with them," said Salmon, who worked with coaches John Ellis and Randall Joseph.

"It gave me the proper training I needed for this level."

Training alongside top boys hurdlers like Ronaldo Griffiths (51.92 400 hurdles), Salmon ran 13.79 in the trials and then achieved All-America status. She's signed on to run at North Carolina A&T.

Mexican decathlete competes at NBNO

It was a strong debut in the decathlon for Alexis Bravo, a native of Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico.

Bravo, who has mainly competed in Mexico, won the long jump (22-3.50), shot put (44-3.50) and placed fourth in the 100 meters before a no height in the pole vault took him out of the competition.

"I used to be a basketball player," said Bravo, who is home-schooled. "My PE teacher asked me to come out for a workout and then I met my current coach, Carlos Cruz. He trains Alejandro Cardenas, who owns the Mexican records in the 400 and 100."

Bravo said that he began competing in the heptathlon in Mexico at the Sub-16 level. Last year in the decathlon he scored 7,335 points at a Sub-18 meet in Cuernavaca, Mexico.

"I want to go to college in the United States," Bravo said.

Wildcats TC leads New York charge in girls relays

Wildcats TC (Shoreham-Wading River, NY) pulled off an impressive girls relay double when they won the 4x800 meter relay (8:51.43) on Saturday, then turned around and won the 4xMile relay Sunday in 20:00.59, No. 4 all-time, in a stretch of less than 12 hours.

"We were kind of going for a national record in the 4xMile but considering we ran the 4x800 (the night before) we were pretty tired," said junior Katherine Lee, who split 4:48 on the anchor leg following her 2:04 split on the 4x800.

"It produced this result but it wasn't our best. But hey, it's a national championship."

The relay of Alexandra Hays, Payton Capes-Davis, Maria Smith and Lee turned in splits of 5:02, 5:02, 5:06 and 4:48. This was following their indoor national title in the 4xMile Relay when Hays, Capes-Davis, Smith and Amanda Dwyer won in 20:33.12.

It was a show of force for New York outfits Legacy (Shenendehowa, second in 20:29.75) and Corning (third in 20:36), which received a 4:47 leg from 5,000-meter champion Jess Lawson.

Four of the New York teams in the relay posed for pictures afterward.

"New York, killing it!" said Capes-Davis, who also finished second in the 2,000-meter steeplechase (8:50.30).

"We were trying to figure out how many New Yorkers won races," Shenendehowa senior Julia  Zachgo said.

It was quite a few. New York runners racked up wins the 5,000 meters (Lawson, Corning,16:38.54), mile (Katelyn Tuohy, North Rockland, 4:45.95), 2,000 steeplechase (Alex Harris, North Rockland,6:45.32), 2-mile (Kelsey Chmiel, Saratoga Springs, 10:10.44) and the 800 (Samantha Watson, Rush-Henrietta, 2:05.70).

For Shoreham-Wading River, it triumphantly sewed together a year that had been marked by disappointment (not receiving an at-large bid for NXN Nationals), drama (Lee severely injured her ankle at the NYRR Millrose Mile) and finally, victory.

"We push each other, we get each other fired up," said Hays, who will run at Columbia next year. "Without each other, no one would have been able to do what we did."

Massachusetts sprinter makes finals

Needham MA junior Davonte Burnett qualified for the finals of the 100 and 200, taking seventh place in each in (10.51 and 21.86). Burnett, the New England Champion in the 200, will surely use this experience to keep growing.

"I want to keep grinding and go to the Junior Olympics," said Burnett, who has PRs of 21.01 and 10.48.

Like many athletes from the Northeast who came to nationals, particularly the sprinters, Burnett found the competition to be a huge step up.

"Man, it's crazy," he said.

Hurdles mentor Sutherland has wide reach

Jason Mollison, the hurdles coach at Franklin K. Lane High in Brooklyn, N.Y., annually has some of the area's top hurdlers. Last year he had Denzel Villaman, who finished second in New York state in the 400. This year, again, he had a new crop of hurdlers, like Darius Brusco, competing at the state level.

For a public school coach in a tough, working-class area at Lane, one wonders how he gets it done.The answer lies in his mentor, longtime Robeson coach Horace Sutherland.

"The reason Sutherland's methods work is because he is genuine," Mollison said. "He cares about the kids and it shows in everything he does."

Many top coaches in the hurdles in New York City trace their ties to Sutherland. A native of Jamaica who has coached at Robeson since 1990, he is a technician who has produced state record holders and scores of top-flight hurdlers.

"Very few coaches coach the hurdles," Sutherland said. "They just put the kids out there."

In Jamaica, Sutherland attended G.C. Foster College where he was a physical education major. This entailed taking actual classes studying events like the hurdles, with textbook precision.

"We were all physical education teachers for many years," Sutherland said. "You were forced to practice your stuff. And over the years you got better at it."

When he arrived at Robeson in 1990 he put his methods to work.

"You pick out a kid with good speed -- but not a top-of-the-pile athlete -- and you make them a hurdler," Sutherland said. "For the real top kids you put them in the 100 meters."

For the Sandy sisters, Alyssa and Bryann, it has worked. Alyssa, a freshman at East Carolina, is the New York state record holder in the 100-meter hurdles (13.45). Bryann, currently a senior at Robeson, will compete for Georgetown next year in the hurdles.

"I'm so grateful to have worked with Sutherland," Bryann Sandy said. "The hurdles are very difficult to master. He gave me the confidence to do it."

Sutherland's interest in growing the sport, and passing along his knowledge, led him back to Mollison, who was a middle-distance runner under Sutherland at Robeson.

"He came to me house three times to try to convince me to become a coach," Mollison said. "Each time I said 'No, no, no… Finally the last time I said 'yes'. It was one of the best things to ever happen to me."

Much like Mollison, Sutherland has influenced coaches throughout the city with his coaching techniques. Marella Richardson, the coach at Taft Educational Academy in the Bronx, was an assistant coach at Robeson under Sutherland.

"He's like a mentor to me," said Richardson, who has coached a number of top sprinters, the latest of which is Carlon Hosten.

"When I came to New York, I didn't know how to work with New York City kids. He's the reason I got into coaching."

Richardson and Sutherland were both education students at G.C. Foster in Jamaica, which offered a traditional education in each event.

For Sutherland, passing along that knowledge -- and improving hurdlers -- has become something of an art.

"It's really important to me to pass on what I know for the future of the sport," Sutherland said.