Scott Sloan was having a bad day in May at the NCAA Division III Track and Field Championships at SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio. Rain, wind, and heavy air made for poor conditions, and the Wheaton College freshman just wasn’t throwing the javelin well.
After his first attempt he was 20th out of 22 competitors, a position to which he was unaccustomed. He moved up to 18th after his second throw, but needed a miracle on his third to advance to the final round. Only nine throwers would move on.
“I was really, really confused,” he told me when we spoke recently.
Confused with good reason. He had won the three meets in which he competed before the nationals. Among them was a record-breaking throw of 66.53 meters (218 feet, 3 inches) at the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championships. That was a meet and facility record. He was the NEWMAC and Wheaton College rookie of the year.
As a Wheeler School senior in 2024, he was the New England and national champion in the javelin. He was also a shot put champion. He knows what it takes to win.
So, on his last attempt to qualify for the final round, he unleashed the fifth-best throw of the season in Division III and slipped into ninth place, the last spot.
“If I didn’t make the finals, I would have been, I don’t know, I just would have been so confused,” he said.
Sloan had three more throws in the finals to break out of his funk.
“The first one was horrible, and then the second one was pretty far but, not a good throw,” he said. His second attempt flew 60.07 meters (197 feet, 1 inch).
Suddenly, he realized what was wrong.
“Oh, I’m not closing my shoulder,” he said. “That’s why it’s not working.”
Still stuck in ninth place, he kept his shoulder closed and uncorked his best throw of the season — 67.97 meters (223 feet) — and vaulted into first place.
“Luckily,” he chuckled.
But then he had to wait for the eight throwers who had been ahead of him to try to catch him. One by one they fell short. Rowan University sophomore Damitrius Hester was close, but finished 5 feet shy and took second.
Scott Sloan, a freshman a month shy of his 19th birthday, was a national champion. With one superb throw, his bad day turned good.
“I kind of didn’t think that anybody was going to pass me because of the rankings,” Sloan told me. “Someone would’ve had to pull off a miracle to beat that because it was horrible conditions. Someone would’ve had to throw like a nation’s best in the rain to beat that.”
“I was a little worried on the last one. I thought Damitrius could possibly do something,” he said, adding “I do believe I was the best.”
His title was the culmination of a difficult first year.
“I’ve been injured the whole season. I’ve literally been taking one or two throws each meet, and I’ve had three meets,” he said. His right elbow is the issue. He has been examined for an ulna collateral ligament strain.
“I have sprains and tendinitis somewhere in my elbow on my triceps, and it just doesn’t go away,” he said.
Sloan started throwing the javelin his junior year at Wheeler. He also played soccer and basketball. Standing 6-foot-5, he was a natural for hoops, but as a senior he won the national high-school championship in the javelin.
He has recovered from a stress fracture in his foot and has been treated for jumper’s knee from basketball.
“This summer I’m focused on getting my knees and elbow right,” he said. He is also volunteering as a coach with the Providence Cobras track program. Last spring, he helped the Moses Brown track team prepare for states.
I asked how he could coach a rival of his old high school. He laughed.
“One thing in javelin I realized instead of basketball, track is a much less toxic sport. I don’t know if you remember growing up and always having arguments. In track, the numbers are the numbers. Most of the time, everybody is really friendly,” he said. “During nationals, I’d say the most beautiful moment was at the beginning, when everybody just got together and prayed in a circle. It was just beautiful.”
