Hempfield grad Jacob Boord sets sights on PAC men's javelin title for Allegheny

For Allegheny junior thrower Jacob Boord, here’s the bad news: He won’t have a chance to become a three-time North Coast Athletic Conference champion in the javelin.

But here’s the good news: The Hempfield grad has a new conference to conquer.

The Gators moved their athletic programs out of the NCAC and, this academic year, re-joined the Presidents’ Athletic Conference, where they resided from 1958-84. That gives Boord the chance to win titles in two conferences.

He appears to be the overwhelming favorite to do just that. On April 15 at Bucknell, Boord threw a personal- and program-best 64.71 meters (212 feet, 4 inches) to take fourth out of 40 competitors, many from Division I and Division II schools.

That puts him nearly 30 feet ahead of the next-best effort by a PAC thrower — Chatham’s Brent Clutter, 183-11 — this spring.

But beyond winning a title, Boord would be happy just to get through a season without disruptions.

After he won the WPIAL Class 3A title as a junior, he was the favorite to repeat as a senior, but the covid-19 pandemic wiped out his final high school season. There were still covid restrictions in place during his freshman year at Allegheny, but he still managed to win the NCAC title.

Then last season at Bucknell, after unleashing a school-record throw of 62.58 meters, he suffered a high-ankle sprain in his right foot on his next attempt. Over the next two-and-a-half weeks, he worked with the Allegheny training staff to get as healthy as possible for the NCAC meet.

Though he wasn’t 100% going into the conference championship, he said he felt good enough to have a chance. But while warming up on what turned out to be a rainy day, he re-sprained his ankle.

“It was very difficult to deal with,” Boord said. “Mentally, it was a big challenge for me, knowing that I’m going into the meet not 100%, and for that to happen again right before I get on the runway to throw was really tough on me.”

Still, his throw of 53.09 meters was enough to defend his title and earn a spot in nationals.

Boord said he took a couple of months off after nationals to make sure his ankle was healed. This spring, he is throwing better than ever and hopes to continue his upward trend — without interruptions — as the postseason approaches.

There have been plenty of highlights already. At the first outdoor meet of the season, the Stan Romanoski Open at WVU, he broke his own school record and set a facility mark with a heave of 62.72 meters in besting a field that was laden with Division II athletes.

“My physical preparation was there. My mental preparation was there, and overall I felt really good,” Boord said about the WVU meet. “The only thing that didn’t feel really good was it being 20 degrees down there.”

Besides the weather, his event was delayed because of issues with the laser measuring system. That ended up making Boord wait nearly a half hour between his final warmup throw and his first competition throw.

“To be able to battle through that and persevere through that and still produce a strong effort, I was really happy with that,” he said.

A week later at the Raleigh Relays hosted by N.C. State, Boord finished 15th out of 42 competitors, most of whom came from Division I schools. Though he confessed he wasn’t pleased with his effort, Boord said he took a lot away from that meet.

A student of his craft, Boord studied his fellow throwers and chatted with several of them about the nuances of their discipline. He said he likes to take bits of information from whatever sources he can find and apply them to his training.

To wit: Boord said he has been watching a lot of video of Finnish and German throwers to pick up any edge he can find. (Finland has two of the world’s top 10 male javelin throwers, and Germany’s Julian Weber is fourth in the world.)

“The javelin is very niche in the sport of track and field, so to be able to travel to meets like (N.C. State) is really great for the experience, great for the competition,” he said. “To look left and look right and see guys that I watch their throws on Instagram and connect with a lot of those guys, it helps to build my technical model, too.

“There’s a lot of things in the javelin community that you can take from one another, and you’re really able to grow that way.”

Besides growing toward a PAC title, Boord wants to grow into a Division I thrower.

Because of his pandemic-affected freshman season, Boord will have one more year of athletic eligibility, and, as he pursues his master’s degree, he wants to throw at the top college level.

Already blessed with a strong arm — he was a pitcher and shortstop in his youth — Boord has been working on developing a stronger “block.” In javelin parlance, the block is the non-throwing side of the body that becomes stationary and acts as a pivot point for the throwing side of the body.

Boord believes the proper techniques and the proper mental approach are what will help him achieve his goals.

“One big thing I believe a lot of athletes would benefit from is not focusing on how far you are throwing but how you are throwing far,” he said. “Going back to the basics, building a stronger technical model to help take my throws even further.

“Setting small goals along the way is really what gets me through and helps me compete. The best thing that I can do is tell myself before a meet, before a season, if I show up and I compete and I give everything I’ve got, that’s what helps me get further and further in my career.”