At Wednesday’s NCAA Championship javelin trials at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, redshirt freshman John Austin came in 11th place out of 26 with a 211′-8″ toss. His finish landed him amongst the top-12 throwers, who move on from the preliminaries to the finals on Friday.
Austin, who set the Duke record earlier this season with his NCAA-qualifying 225′-5″ hurl in the NCAA East Regional on May 30, has a legitimate chance at the title—the longest mark of today’s preliminary came in at just under 230 feet. Even if Austin doesn’t capture the top spot, he can still go for a top-eight finish, which will garner him All-American status.
A throw of 229′-8″ would qualify him for the Olympic Trials.
—from staff reports