Millville’s Leah Howard, a Texas Tech true freshman, popped a javelin PR and the No. 3 throw in Red Raider history (we think) Friday morning at the Big 12 Championships in Waco, Texas.
Howard placed 6th in a loaded field with a 164-4 on her 3rd throw. Her previous PR was a 163-1 at last year’s Woodbury Relays.
Howard’s throw is No. 7 on the all-time South Jersey alumni list. There are 12 known 160-foot throwers from South Jersey.
She is tied for 36th among U.S. women with Alianna Eucker of Rutgers and Westwood High in Washington Township, Bergen County. Eucker threw 164-4 at the Penn Relays.
For some ridiculous reason, Texas Tech’s web site doesn’t have an all-time performers list, only a top-10 performances list, which lists the same thrower 10 times. That’s truly idiotic. They do have a year-by-year list that shows only two women ahead of Howard – Hannah Carson, the 2016 Olympic Trials runner-up, threw 200-9 in 2016 and Callie Jones 165-3 in 2002.
But that doesn’t account for the possibility of someone throwing between 164-5 and those marks. I went through the “all performances” section on TFRRS for each year Texas Tech had a woman at 164-4 or over but the best mark I found was a 164-0 by Natalie Baker in 2016, so apparently Howard is No. 3 in school history.
Her 164-4 would also be No. 2 in Texas Tech history among freshmen, behind Carson’s 171-1 at the 2013 Clyde Littlefield Relays in Austin. Carson competed in one meet in 2012 in Tucson as a true freshman and threw 166-10.
Howard’s throw makes her No. 45 in NCAA Division 1 this year and No. 9 among freshmen. It’s not clear whether she’ll turn 20 before or after midnight Dec. 31. If she doesn’t, she’ll be eligible for U.S. Under-20 Nationals.
https://tf.tfrrs.org/lists/4515/2024_NCAA_Division_I_All_Schools_Rankings?gender=f
On Friday, Howard opened with a 146-11 and 159-1 before finishing the trials with her new PR. She finished with another 160-foot throw – 160-4 – a foul and then a 153-2.
169-9 … Kelly Yanucil [Bordentown], April 29, 2006, Philadelphia
169-3 … Lynlee Phillips [Shawnee], May 5, 2000, Mt. Pleasant, Mich.
168-6 … Brielle Smith [Oakcrest], April 20, 2019, Woodbury, N.J.
168-0 … Maria Jiminez [Vineland], May 13, 2016, Tuscaloosa, Ala.
166-6 … Danielle Steff [Rancocas Valley], April 10, 2021, Lawrenceville, N.J.
166-4 … Megan Sax Vander Weyden [Pennsville], May 11, 2018, Waco, Texas
164-4 … Leah Howard [Millville], May 11, 2024, Waco, Texas
163-5 … Heather Juhring [Kingsway], March 21, 2015, Winston Salem, N.C.
162-7 … Faith Blamon [Cinnaminson], May 6, 2017, Lawrenceville, N.J.
161-7 … Brenna Smith [Haddon Twp.], April 21, 2018, Durham, N.C.
161-1 … Katherine Johnston [Haddonfield], May 14, 2017, University Park, Pa.
160-4 … Alexa Gardner [Hammonton], May 26, 2022, Bloomington, Ind.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 