Looking for something new to try, Zach Godbold’s eyes caught a javelin sitting in the grass near where his Running Tigers of Hillsborough County Track Club teammates were training.
Uninterested in the long distance runs that had lured him to the club with his big brother Frankie, Zach had been only mildly satisfied with throwing the shot put and discus. “They were just okay,’’ he says.
But, the javelin? Now, that looked a little more interesting.
Turns out, Zach made an excellent choice that day. He is now the best 14-year-old javelin thrower in the country and the reigning AAU Junior Olympic (JO) champion. In August, the New Tampa teenager turned in the biggest throw of his life, a whopping 167 feet, 5 inches — at the biggest event of his life — to capture the gold medal.
“It was pretty big,’’ Zach says. “Especially because it was such an important event.”
The JO win capped a huge spring and summer for Zach, a 14-year-old freshman at Wharton. He won a handful of local and regional events, and improved his throws by more than 40 feet from the beginning of track and field sea
son to the end.
“I think that’s what was most impressive, how he went from throwing 120 to 140 to 160,’’ said his father, Frank. “That’s pretty impressive.”
Frank and his wife Maria hardly imagined such heights were attainable five years ago,
when Zach first noticed that javelin laying in the grass near the track at Turner-Bartells K-8 School, where the Running Tigers practiced.
Coach Gig Brown told him to give it a try. It was a natural fit.
“I wasn’t the best at it (right away),’’ Zach says, “but I learned it quickly.”
There aren’t many sports at which the natural athlete hasn’t succeeded. He plays top-flight club soccer for the Temple Terrace Spirit, he was an exceptional pitcher on the Little League baseball diamond, he has run track and he’s currently playing junior varsity football — as a kicker and punter — for the Wildcats.
But, it is this most unique sport that has brought Zach his greatest success.
Once Brown got him started, Zach took it from there. He would find a place to throw while his teammates raced around the track, and he and Frank would search out empty fields near their Arbor Greene home to practice, often at the overgrown baseball fields across from Pride Elementary. Because actual javelin coaches are about as rare as an uncongested road in New Tampa, Zach studied YouTube videos in his free time to hone his craft.
“The javelin is much different from other throwing events because you don’t need to be big and strong and have a lot of muscles to throw it,’’ says Zach, who is 5-foot-9 inches tall and roughly 160 pounds. “If you’re smaller and want to try throwing because you don’t like running, you can be good at this.”
Or great, as Zach was this summer.
He had competed at the Junior Olympics the three previous years, in the javelin and the discus, but had never had his breakthrough.
In 2013, he finished seventh, followed by a second-place finish in 2014 and 12th-place in 2015.
Taking It To His Rival
His primary rival was No. 1-ranked Jack Caudle of Atchison, KS, who beat out Zach for the gold in 2014 and set a national record for 13-year-olds while winning again last year, with a throw of 147-11.
If he were to win, Zach knew it was Caudle he would have to beat as they squared off with 58 other competitors at Turner Stadium in Humble, TX.
Competitors are allowed three throws in the preliminary round, with the top eight advancing to the finals, where they get three more throws. The best throw, including those in prelims, wins gold.
Zach wasted no time — on his first throw, he delivered a career-best toss of 167’-5”.
“I felt pretty confident, and I knew that was going to make it into the finals,’’ he said.
Zach didn’t manage a better throw, though he did clear 160 feet with two other throws.
He didn’t need to improve, however. He anxiously watched as the other competitors tried to better his top distance, including Caudle, who had come up short on his first five throws.
But, the tall lefty had one throw — and one nerve-wracking moment for the Godbold family — remaining, and he sent the javelin sailing high into the Texas sky, his best throw of the competition.
“I was so nervous,’’ Zach said. “I knew it was going to be really close.”
It was — Caudle came up with a throw of 166’-10”, just seven inches shy of a third straight championship, and in the stands Frank and Maria Godbold jumped with joy.
“I thought Maria was going to lose her mind,’’ Frank said, chuckling. “I’m real proud of him, obviously. Not just about winning, but doing it on the biggest stage. The other guy had just been better than him, and to see him get over the hump, it meant a lot. Never in our wildest dreams did we imagine this kind of moment when he started throwing a javelin.”
As a former Little League pitcher and back-up quarterback in football who was only used for long throws like Hail Marys, the javelin was the perfect fit. Most in his age group send their javelins arcing high into the air; Zach is known for his low, long throw.
“He always had a tremendous arm,’’ says Frank. “His uncle used to tell him he should be throwing a baseball.”
In five years, Zach has developed into one of the best young javelin throwers in the land. He has put away his 600-gram (21-lb.), 7-foot-long javelin for the winter, while he focuses on football and soccer.
Despite the fact he can’t compete in the event in high school because the javelin is not a sanctioned high school field event in Florida, like the discus and shot put, Zach plans on throwing the javelin all the way to college, and maybe beyond.
Next spring, he moves up to the 800-gram (28-lb.) javelin, which is between 8’3’’ and 8’7” long, the same one you see being thrown at the Olympics. He will continue to travel the state and country as he competes in AAU track season and competitions, with one goal in mind — to keep getting better.
“It’s definitely something I love doing,” Zach says, “and I’m definitely sticking with it.”
Like five years ago, that’s probably another good choice.
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