Zach Holland of Umpqua Community College, national junior college record holder in the javelin, will compete Sunday at USATF outdoor nationals. Photo by Kevin Neri
Zach Holland was a baseball guy.
As someone from a small school, Holland never focused his attention on one sport; rather, he played a different one with each sports season. Holland grew up 90 miles south of Eugene in Glide, Oregon, a small town with a population just under 1,300. Apart from baseball, he was a gifted wrestler, winning three OSAA state titles.
But still, Holland was a baseball guy.
He received some attention for his baseball talents and earned a couple of college scholarship offers. Everything seemed to be going according to plan until his senior year, when one day after baseball practice, Holland was hanging out with some friends from the track team and decided to pick up a javelin.
He liked it. He joined the team and competed the rest of the season, becoming a four-sport athlete and winning the 2019 2A state title by 36 feet. Holland’s name had grown more famous in Oregon for javelin than it ever had for wrestling and baseball, and when the time came for him to choose a sport to pursue collegiately, he went with the former.
It only took a few months, but Holland was no longer a baseball guy.
Holland, now a student at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, enters the men’s javelin final on Sunday at the USATF Outdoor Championships with the sixth-best mark at 264 feet, 6 inches. He’s a little less than 17 feet from top-seeded Michael Shuey and less than seven feet from Tim Glover, who is seeded third. For Holland to guarantee himself a trip back to Eugene in July for the World Athletics Championships, he’ll have to place in the top three and achieve the world standard of 278-10.
“I’ve been having a great time out here,” said Holland, who practiced inside Hayward Field on Wednesday. “I’m really excited to be here in this amazing facility around all these professional athletes. Hopefully, it just pushes me to do better.”
It didn’t take long for success to find Holland at UCC. Over the last two years, Holland has competed in 17 competitions and won 11 of them. Last summer, he capped off his first year at UCC with an appearance at the Olympic Trials, where he placed ninth.
Holland has walked into major meets with predominantly Division I competition and captured a win. The JUCO product’s personal best, which he threw at the Northwest Athletic Conference Championships in May, would have earned silver at the NCAA Division I Championships. The mark set a meet record, an NWAC record and new American junior college record.
“The goal, from the get-go, was for him to try and get the junior college record,” said UCC coach Alan King. “For him to hit it on three separate occasions and keep getting better, is always a good sign … he definitely has shown the desire to do what he’s doing.”
Holland’s javelin career almost ended as abruptly as it started. He originally committed to the Oregon Institute of Technology — his coaches there envisioned Holland as a potential decathlete.
Holland said he never quite meshed well with the program or the school, and he packed his bags to return home, uncertain about his future.
“I didn’t really like it there,” said Holland. “I wasn’t quite sure if I was going to continue doing college. … Having that experience left a little sour taste in my mouth, but Coach King got me to come out, and it’s been just climbing uphill from there.”
Holland’s re-location opened the door to additional opportunities. He’s been collaborating with Ron Johnson and Bud Held on javelin prototypes. Johnson has been rebuilding javelins since 1982, and Held competed at the 1952 Olympics and won a gold medal at the 1955 Pan American Games.
The javelins are made out of carbon fiber with the shaft being 100% carbon. It puts all the weight in the tip and tail of the javelin, correcting its flight path and creating better lift.
Holland had received javelins from Johnson before, but it was Johnson who approached Holland during his second term at UCC, asking if Holland would test more prototypes and give feedback.
The relationship has produced six unique spears for Holland. He said he has set all his personal bests with them.
“They seem to fly right for me,” said Holland. “Living so close to Ron, anytime I have any problems or questions, I just call him and he helps me out. It’s just been a wonderful experience.”
The transition also meant being closer to home, and a lot closer to Holland’s personal coach, Jim Feeney, who has decades of javelin experience. While Holland admits there aren’t a lot of weekend activities to do in Glide, the small community has supported him and constantly asks how he’s progressing. Holland credits his hometown for developing him into the athlete he is. King agrees.
“He had so many years of foundation,” said King. “As far as strength training, lifting… definitely a well-rounded athlete… and one of those gifted athletes.”
An athlete — perhaps the best word to characterize Holland. Not a wrestler. Not a baseball guy. Recently a javelin guy. But always an athlete, and a damn good one.
