Story by Cory Mull
Photos by Don Rich (2012 Penn Relays - 2012 Shippensburg Invitational)
Mercersburg Academy girls' head coach Nikki Walker was concerned about being ambitious too early. Aim too high and fail, she thought, and it could derail a few weeks of training.
Even though she had one of the nation's best javelin throwers under her direction, Walker still worried about placing the bar too high at a March meet - the first of the season.
"Her goal was to throw 150 to 155," Walker said of senior Sarah Firestone, who entered the spring track and field season with the 14th best throw in the nation at 144-10 and aimed for a good showing at the Tim Cook Invitational in Chambersburg, "and I was like 'Oh my God.'"
"We had a headwind and it was 35 degrees out," she continued. "If this doesn't happen, I didn't want her to be crushed."
But a funny thing happened. Walker remembered she was dealing with Firestone, a girl who had won two national NFL Punt, Pass, Kick (PPK) competitions as a youth. She was coaching a three sport athlete, a gym rat, a perennial competitor, and a girl who wasn't even thinking about that national ranking.
Soon, Walker realized that no matter what expectations Firestone placed upon herself, they probably wouldn't last for very long anyway.
They'd likely just get broken and rewritten.
"She went out there and it was obvious," Walker said of Firestone at Tim Cook. "She really developed her form, footwork and confidence on the runway. You could see it on the first throw. It was like, 'Wow, you've come a long way in nine months'. Her goal is way beyond last Saturday. And I have all the faith in the world she can do it."
Indeed, the University of Nebraska recruit did live up to her standards at Tim Cook, firing a PA#1 and US#2 heave of 152-1 on her second throw to win the competition.
"I actually had no idea that my throw took me where it did," Firestone said. "When I threw it, I went through my steps and did everything right. It all flowed together technique wise."
And the crazy part, Firestone said, was that she didn't even throw the javelin hard. In some ways it's better that she didn't, because it suggests she was leaning on all the factors that make her one of the best in the nation today: the runway speed, the footwork, the explosion of the hips, and the release point.
"Knowing myself, I'm ready to push more to see what I can do now."
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If you've never heard of Firestone, that's because she doesn't compete within the PIAA. Mercersburg Academy is a private college preparatory boarding school that competes in the Pennsylvania Independent School Athletic Association (PAISAA).
As a junior, Firestone took top honors in the PAISAA Championships, winning the javelin (121-5), discus (94-9) and placing second in the shot put (32-4.75) -- she also took first in 2011 at the javelin as a sophomore, releasing a mark of 122-04.
But both years, she didn't let her season stop there, moving on to more meets across the country over the summer, including stops at the New Balance Outdoor Nationals in North Carolina, the USATF Junior Olympics, the AAU National Junior Olympics, and last year, the USATF Junior Outdoor Championships for 19 and under.
In reality, the traveling circus wasn't such a drastic shift in Firestone's life. She had a family that encouraged competition, and promoted the pursuit of bigger, better and faster.
Her brother, a redshirt junior punter at Division I Wagner College, had also excelled at PPK as a youth, Walker said. Firestone continued from her four month spring season and prolonged it over the summer, traveling to national meets that featured some of the same athletes that she will one day face in college.
"Sarah has been traveling across the country since elementary school," Walker said. "Her parents have been dedicated to her and her brothers, and encouraged activities they can excel in. They push their kids and their kids have responded well in these weird little niches like javelin and punting."
"I just think it's bred into her that she's going to keep going, that track season doesn't end just because your team is done," she added. "She's going to compete, because that's what she does. Sarah would never see it any other way. She's going to work really hard for her goal."
* * *
Firestone is a gym rat. She also plays soccer and basketball for Mercersburg, and admits that each sport brings habits that transfer over to the javelin, like the explosive hip movements in basketball and the constant footwork and planting that's required in soccer.
These variables, however small Firestone said, have contributed in many ways to her success. They have made her stronger, quicker, more explosive.
And that’s key for a lot of reasons.
Mercersburg doesn't have a certified strength and conditioning coach, so Walker imparts what wisdom she can on Firestone. The pair work on maintaining her strength with box jumps, hurdle jumps, plyometrics and med ball throws. They also incorporate elastic bands into a strength program, and Firestone says she works with a Nerf football to augment the days she’s not throwing the javelin.
"It's not so much working specifically on strength, but explosion," Firestone said.
As a senior, Firestone surely wants to continue to grow in the javelin. Her state-leading throw at Tim Cook was a good sign that her offseason work is beginning to pay off, but she understands that it can't end there.
"By the end of the season I have set a goal, with another coach (Bill Schmidt) I've worked with at clinics over the summer, to throw around the 165 range. To go into my freshman year in college and be around there, that would give me a boost in confidence."
"I have always set pretty high goals."
For Firestone, the bar can never be too high.