It’s not very often that a community college athlete comes into Hayward Field and wins. Zach Holland of Umpqua Community College did just that Friday night at the Hayward Premiere, winning the javelin with his throw of 228 feet, 7 inches.
His win wasn’t shocking, though. At last week’s Texas Relays, Holland started the outdoor season by finishing third with a personal record of 256-2 .
Holland would be ranked second in the country behind Baylor’s Chinecherem Prosper Nnamdi, whose PR of 257-2 came at the Texas Relays as well, but his throws aren’t ranked at the Division I level.
“I kind of think of myself as an underdog coming from a community college and competing against a bunch of big D-I schools,” Holland said.
Holland went to Glide High School in Glide, Oregon, which was a 3A school in athletics. He didn’t start throwing the javelin until his junior year in high school.
“I just got done with baseball practice one day, and the track coach was my wrestling coach, and we were over there talking,” Holland said. “I can throw a baseball, want to see if I can throw [a javelin].”
Holland said throwing a javelin is like throwing a “really funky curveball.” He talks a lot about analyzing the technicalities of throwing motion.
“Filming is the biggest thing, just thinking of it in my head,” Holland said. “And just filming it and making sure that I’m actually doing it right, so I can actually look at it and analyze how it’s going down.”
His big throws in Texas last week were made possible in part by the weather: dry with temperatures in the upper 80s. The weather at Hayward Field on Friday was in the upper 40s, which affected the throwers.
“When it’s cold out and the air gets thick and cold, it really takes a toll on your fingers and hands,” Holland said. “Any exposed skin that really almost just becomes numb. It’s not the best conditions, but if you learn to make do, you can do pretty well.”
Holland’s first throw was his best throw, and he threw over 220 feet two other times. Wichita State’s Taran Taylor came closest to beating Holland with a final throw of 226-5.
Holland’s goal is to throw 272-3 this season. “I want to keep going as far as I can,” he said.
