GENEVA, Ohio — Wheaton College (Mass.) men's track & field member Scott Sloan (Barrington, R.I.) became the first student-athlete in school history to win the National Championship in the javelin with a first place finish in the event this evening at the NCAA Division III National Championship at SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio.
The first year becomes the first Lyon to earn an outdoor national championship since Wheaton won the Division III crown in both the 4X100 and 4X400-meter relays in 2010. He becomes the first individual national champ since Dan Olson captured first place in the high jump at the 2004 national title meet.
Sloan won the event by breaking his own school record for the second time with a toss of 67.97 meters to break his former best by 1.44 meters on a wet infield in Geneva, Ohio. The mark also ranks 25th among throwers in NCAA Division III history.
The Wheaton rookie won the javelin in dramatic fashion after recording the fifth-best throw of the season to qualify for the national meet.
The only first year in the group began the day sitting in 20th place out of 22 competitors after his first throw, before moving up to 18th after his second try. His third throw was arguably his most important, aside from the winning distance, because it catapulted him from 18th to ninth to send him into the final round for the final three throws.
Among the final nine competitors to advance he slightly improved his best throw of the day with a mark of 60.07 meters, but still remained in ninth place with one throw to go. Sloan made his last attempt the best of the day, improving on his best throw by nearly eight meters for the Lyons. His final toss leapfrogged him past the eight entries in front of him, who all had their final throw remaining. One by one, the final eight all fell short to leave Sloan by himself to earn the gold medal.
Rowan University sophomore Damitrius Hester (Mahwah, N.J.) placed second in the event with a personal-best throw of 66.55 meters, while Ursinus College second-year standout Jayden McKeen (Coal Township, Pa.) placed third with a mark of 66.08 meters.
The javelin is the only event that Wheaton men's track & field qualified for, but the Lyons are currently third in the national championship standings with 10 points, behind University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh's total of 24 and University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire's tally of 12 points.
