Yelm High School’s Brayden Platt secured a national championship in the javelin event at the Nike Outdoor Nationals Invitational in Eugene, Oregon.
Platt launched his javelin 228 feet and half an inch, earning him his first national championship that also set a new Yelm High School record in the process. Platt finished in second place at this year’s 3A Washington State Championship for the javelin event with a throw of 216 feet, seeing an improvement of 12 feet.
“Brayden did amazing. He almost didn’t make it to finals in javelin, which scared me,” Cami Stovall, Yelm High School throws coach, said. “He hasn’t thrown since state. He was in eighth (place) and they only took nine to the finals. After a couple of warm up throws, he figured out what he was doing and we were good.”
Platt also placed fourth in the shot put event with a throw of 64 feet and second in the “Emerging Elite” hammer event with a throw of 174 feet, 4.25 inches. He broke Yelm High School records in all three events, according to Stovall.
Stovall said Platt received a great reaction from the throwers, after he launched his javelin 228 feet.
“That’s the cool thing with all the throwers. Everyone’s always happy for each other. Everyone was pumped up, including his opponents,” Stovall said. “Brayden had flown in the night before from California, from the Elite 11. He said he got to bed a little after midnight and he was up the next morning to run an early prelim in the 100-meter. He went from football on Thursday to running the 100 early on Friday.”
Stovall said Platt and Trevontay Smith will both compete in the U20 USATF National Championships, which will be held at Hayward Field in early July, Stovall said. The two athletes will compete against freshmen and sophomores in college, which Stovall described as a battle.
Other Tornados that competed at the Nike Outdoor Nationals included Isaiah Patterson, Jordan Lasher, Bree Hurajt, Ayla Danner-Bunn, Isabella Zurfluh, Sage Rough, Sam Dejacomo, Deegan Golden, Nolah Wafford, Tyler Blevins, Jayde Connally and Madelyn Lawson. Tatiyanna Wadley and Zach Walsh both qualified for the event, but were unable to attend.
Lasher competed in several events while in Eugene, including the 100-meter race, the 1500-meter race, the 110-meter hurdles, high jump and pole vault. The 3A state champion placed third overall at the Nike Outdoor Nationals in the pole vault event, with a vault of 15 feet and 1 inch.
Yelm’s 4x100 relay, which includes Danner-Bunn, Zurfluh, Rough and Hurajt, placed 11th with a time of 51.97 seconds.
Wafford competed in both discus and javelin. She finished with a mark of 90 feet, 10.5 inches in discus, and secured an 84 foot, 8.5 inch mark in javelin.
Golden competed in the 4x100 relay with his club, finishing in 13th place with a time of 49.2 seconds.
Blevins participated in the hammer throw event and finished with a launch of 146 feet, 8.75 inches.
Connally, like Blevins, competed in the hammer throw event, and finished with a mark of 81 feet and 10.25 inches.
Lawson and Dejacomo, who Stovall referred to as Yelm’s “next generation of standout throwers,” competed in the hammer and javelin competitions, respectively. Lawson finished the hammer competition in 11th place, with a throw of 108 feet and 5.25 inches. Dejacomo competed in the javelin event, and finished with a throw of 137 feet and 10 inches.
