With A Best So Far Of 205-2, Rainier High Senior Is Getting Close To The All-Time Washington Record

By Keenan Gray for DyeStat

Photo by Eric Trent/The Chronicle (Centralia, Wash.)

About 17 miles southeast of Washington's state capital lies the small, charming town of Rainier, named for its unimpeded view of the snow-capped Mount Rainier.

Rainier has just 2,000 residents, and one of them happens to be the No. 1 high school discus thrower in the country: senior Jeremiah Nubbe.

As a seventh grader, Nubbe began his athletic career by seeking out a sport that was a good fit and something he could apply himself to. His older brother was already a football player, but during the springtime, he was also involved in track and field. 

Nubbe followed his brother into track and field. 

“I was excited to get in that environment,” Nubbe said. “The coach I had in middle school was in college athletics and I had a really good connection with him through lifting, so that’s kind of where I got my start.”

Nubbe tried a variety of events, from running the 200 meters, to high jumping, to running relays. But then he found discus, and that’s where he found a calling.

Throughout his first two meets, Nubbe learned the basics and improved by an average of 21 feet, and then he plateaued for a bit in the mid-90s but began winning small meets. The final meet of the year, he threw his best throw at 127-9 (38.93m), good enough to win the middle school league title. 

The following year as an eighth grader, he completed an undefeated season with another middle school title, this time throwing 157-1 (47.87m), the eighth-best throw in the country at that time for middle schoolers.

“I got pretty good at it through middle school,” Nubbe said. “Obviously I got a lot more serious about it going into my freshman year and then took it to the next level.”

In his first year of competing in high school, Nubbe began dominating his competition in discus right away,  going undefeated in league meets and eventually winning the Class 2B state track title. He was also the top freshmen in the state with a best of 156 feet (47.54m).

Even that fell a little short of his goal. 

“My PR was little bit above what I had actually threw at state,” Nubbe said. “Even though I got the state title, I still wanted to hit that 160. In my eyes, my own expectations were happy, but also, I wanted more. I was still hungry to throw farther.”

Two weeks into his sophomore season, COVID-19 stripped away his chance to compete.

Nubbe turned his attention inward, to focus on himself. 

“I used that time available to partition out when I’m actually throwing and lifting to get a good cycle down,” Nubbe said. “Despite not having any scheduled school, I could work around an efficient time to get all my progress done with throws and lifting. It actually helped me boost and jump ahead when I hit junior year.”

Competing in virtual meets that spring of 2020, he made another big jump in discus, with a new measured personal best of 180-6 (55.01m).

More time passed in the small town, and the new normal came with the start of a new school year in the fall of 2020, beginning as remote learning and eventually making its way back to masked in-person classrooms. 

When spring came, Nubbe was finally back to competing alongside high school competition.

“I was a little rusty getting back into it,” Nubbe said. “I was only a couple of feet off my PR in the first couple of meets, but it was good to get back into the groove of things, like getting used to competing again. I was just glad to be back in the ring for real.”

In 2021, Nubbe threw a new personal best 200-2 (61.01m) and his season concluced with a national title at the USATF National Junior Olympic Championships in Florida. On top of that, he also was named Washington’s Gatorade Player of the Year in track and field, despite a second cancellation of the WIAA state championships.

“It was nice cap off to end of the year,” Nubbe said. “Obviously I had my junior state record that I got to break as well, which kind of finalized that, especially going into the college recruiting process and it was a nice resume builder.”

Nubbe opened 2022 with a US#1 mark of 205-2 (62.53m) – he's the only thrower over 200 feet so far – and has goals that extend even farther. 

The all-time Washington best of 207-2 (63.14m) by Vinnie Pecht of West Valley in 1997 is in play any time he throws. 

Nubbe committed to the University of Texas in the fall to pursue a degree in Engineering in hopes of becoming an Aerospace engineer. He will also be throwing for the Longhorns under throws coach Zeb Sion, who coaches Olympic gold medalist Valarie Allman.

Allman has become a volunteer assistant at Texas as well. 

“I decided to go with UT because they were straight up,” Nubbe said. “I like their program and I connected well, and they have really good (academic programs) on top of being in a really good location. I like Texas and Austin is a beautiful city.”

Leaving behind the town of Rainier for Austin may require some adjustments, but the opportunities are boundless. 

From a school with less than 200 students, Nubbe is showing that talent and dedication can emerge from anywhere. 

“It means a ton,” Nubbe said. “I definitely try to be a good figure in regard to the next generation in helping kids continue on and achieving their goals because it doesn’t happen very often. You already have one percent of high school athletes going onto college and then you look at 2B schools and it’s probably even less, so it’s a big opportunity to represent my school and also a proud moment for myself to see where I come from and where I'm going to go.”