Javelin-tossing Zip Chick

[Captain Kangaroo]

PG West: Freedom graduate Kaufman 'zips' to seventh in NCAA javelin

Thursday, June 16, 2005

By Rich Emert, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Timing is everything in track and field, even when the event isn't decided by a stop watch.

Ashley Kaufman, Freedom Area High School graduate and University of Akron junior, is the first to admit there are probably 20 better female javelin throwers at NCAA Division I colleges than herself.

But most of them didn't make it to the finals of the NCAA championships, and only six finished ahead of Kaufman.

"You look at my ranking and I'm around 20th in the nation," she said. "There is something to be said for peaking at the right time."

She knows all about that from her high school days. Kaufman won the WPIAL Class AA championship in the javelin in 2002, but was second at the PIAA meet. In 2001, she was second in the WPIAL and fourth in the PIAA.

Kaufman set the Akron record in the javelin with a personal-best throw of 159 feet, 3 inches in the qualifying round at the NCAA championships last week in Sacramento, Calif. She then had a throw of 155-8 in the championship round, which was good enough for seventh place.

That earned Kaufman All-American honors. Dana Pounds of Air Force won the event with a toss of 185-4.

"The way they work it is that the top 12 from the qualifying round make it to the final, but none of the marks carry over. They wipe the slate clean and you get six more throws," Kaufman said. "I don't think anybody threw as well in the finals as they did in qualifying."

The qualifying was held last Wednesday with the finals Friday. By this time of the track season, most javelin throwers are battered, which explains the dropoff in distance.

"We're all used to throwing just once a week at this point, so it's tough to compete one day and then come back a day later and go again. Everybody has back braces, knee braces, elbow braces or something."

Kaufman wears a back brace when she throws. Her back was injured when she was a freshman working out with a medicine ball. The injury hindered her training.

While the back pain is still there, Kaufman has learned to deal with it when she throws.

Her journey to the NCAA championships was an interesting one. To earn the trip, she had to compete in the Mideast regional qualifier in Bloomington, Ind.

The top-five finishers there moved on to Sacramento.

After her last throw at the Mideast Regional, Kaufman thought she had missed out.

"I didn't think I had made it [for the championships] until an official came up and told me I did," she said. "What happened was I was in sixth place going into the final there and I threw better than the girl ahead of me in fifth, and then she threw better than I did.

"We were both locked into beating each other for that fifth spot that we didn't realize that we both passed the girl who had been in fourth place."

Before the NCAA meet, Kaufman sat down with her coaches at Akron and studied video of her throwing technique. They even looked at some video of when Kaufman was competing for Freedom.

Some minor flaws were discovered in Kaufman's form and adjustments were made.

"The javelin is such a technical event that a minor thing here or there can add distance," she said. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't surprised that I got seventh place. My coaches did a great job of getting me to peak at just the right time."

One of Kaufman's goals this season was to break the Akron record of 158-3.

With that and the All-American honor tucked away, she looks forward to bigger and better things next year.

She plans to stay at Akron this summer and continue to train. There is a USA meet in two weeks in Los Angeles that Akron coaches are trying to get Kaufman to attend. The B standard for the competition is 157 feet. The A standard, or automatic qualifying distance, is 164 feet.

"They have a field of 25, and if you've thrown the B standard, that just means you are on a waiting list," Kaufman said.

"I want compete there because most of the top throwers in the country, people who have graduated from college but have continued to train for the Olympics, will be there. The competition should be great."

This was Kaufman's first time at the NCAA championships and she soaked in as much of the atmosphere as possible. When she wasn't competing, she was at the stadium cheering for Akron teammates.

"Just being there was a great experience," she said. "There are just so many talented athletes. The whole thing was awesome."

Kaufman received a plaque for achieving All-American honors. She had it in her carry-on bag on the flight home and, unfortunately, it was broken in transit.

"But that was OK," Kaufman said. "I'll just go out and earn another one next year."