He’s the ‘real deal’

Thank goodness for four choices.

Back when Wes Nolen was exploring the events on the North Pines Middle School track menu, he was asked to pick four events he wanted to try. “I got to the end and I had circled three events,” said Nolen, 14. “I had to pick a fourth event and I saw ‘javelin’ listed. So I talked my friend into trying it with me.”

Good thing.

Nolen stands a good chance of breaking the Inland Empire youth boys record in the javelin at the Junior Olympics regional meet July 10-11 at Chief Sealth High in Seattle.

His qualifying throw of 142 feet, 2 inches was shy of the mark Bob Wilske of Cheney set in 2002, 149-3. But that throw wasn’t what caught people’s attention.

“He had a throw of at least 155 feet or farther, but he scratched,” North Pines coach Bill Berg said. “He’s thrown over 150 in practice a number of times. Wes is the real deal.”

Nolen is no stranger to records.

Throwing the soft-tipped TURBO-Jav, a 400-gram javelin used by middle schools, Nolen threw 204-5 during school track at North Pines. In a sport where records are broken by fractions of inches, the youngster smashed the All-Valley record by 29 feet.

The javelin, the lightest of track and field’s throwing events, varies in weight. Youth boys use a 600-gram javelin, the same one used by high school girls. High school boys use an 800-gram javelin.

“The kid really has an arm,” Berg said. “He’s growing a little bit. He’s a good athlete and I think he’ll adjust. He’s learning to throw the 800 gram javelin, which is the one the high school boys use, and he’s over 140 feet in practice. He’s thrown this one (the 600-gram javelin) over 150 feet in practice.”

Nolen, who also ran on the championship cross country team at North Pines, will likely throw the javelin for the University High varsity next season. “That’s my goal,” Nolen said.

Nolen won four events at the regional qualifying meet, capturing the long jump and helping the 400 and 1,600 relay teams.

“He’s just a natural athlete,” said Berg, eying a new event for Nolen. “We’re looking at decathlon a little bit. He picks things up real quick. He threw the discus 110 feet the other night in practice. He can obviously run the 1,500 if he can run cross country. The only things would be the pole vault and the hurdles that could be a challenge for him.”

Six North Pines athletes qualified for this month’s regional meet. Nathan Smith, also an incoming freshman at U-Hi, won the 200 and was second in the 100, as well as helping both relay teams.

Michael Puckett was second in the 200 hurdles, with Matt Kaingles right behind in third. Both eighth-graders at North Pines next year, the pair also finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the 100 hurdles. Kaingles ran on both relay teams and Puckett ran on the 1600 relay.

Dana McClendon qualified for the regional by winning the discus and finishing second in the shot. The 13-year-old holds the school record in the shot with a throw of 34-10 ½ , but bested that mark with a throw of 36-1 at the regional. Horizon’s Evie Baker won the event at 36-3. Lauren Puhek, 13, qualified in three events by finishing third in the shot put, second in the discus behind McClendon, and sixth in the javelin. Madeline Fuchs won the 200 hurdles in impressive fashion, turning in a time of 31.7 seconds.

“If you look at it, 29.9 earned you eighth at last year’s National Junior Olympics championships in Florida,” Berg said. “She’s just a little bit off of having a top eight time in the country. Madeline was also fifth in the 100 hurdles at 19.32, but was only a half-second out of third.”

Fuchs, who attends St. John-Vianny and competes in track at North Pines, started out as a sprinter, but her natural athleticism led Berg to suggest the hurdles.

“She ran 28.9 – she’s the third fastest seventh-grade 200 runner we’ve ever had at North Pines,” he said. “She has good foot speed. If you looked at her 100, 200 and 400 times, she wasn’t all that competitive on a national scale, so we decided to go in a little bit different direction. I talked with her family and we decided to put her in both hurdles. She had hurdled a little before, and I think she and her mom and dad are all excited about the possibilities.”

Fuchs also qualified in two jumps.

“She didn’t have any kind of steps at all and qualified seventh in the triple jump at 26-9 and was two feet out of third there,” Berg said. “Any kind of steps, any kind of horizontal momentum at all, she could really pop it out there.

“She also tied her personal record at the end of the day by going 4-5 in the high jump. She’s a strong gal.”