STRATTANVILLE, Pa. (EYT/D9) — Each time Ryan Hummell let the javelin go, he was met with disappointment.
The Clarion-Limestone senior wasn’t throwing the way he knew he could.
And the frustration was mounting.
(Pictured above, Clarion-Limestone senior Ryan Hummell throws the javelin/submitted photo)
“I’ve kind of let myself down all year,” said Hummell, who won the District 9 championship and finished fourth at the PIAA Track and Field Championships in the event last season. “I knew I had a lot more in me than what I was doing.”
Hummell was at a crossroads.
Hummell suffered a torn ACL last summer and decided to delay surgery until the end of his senior year. He played the entire football season at Central Clarion with the injury and played at a very high level at linebacker, helping lead the Wildcats to a District 9 championship and to the PIAA Class 2A playoffs.
Clarion-Limestone Area High School sports coverage on Explore and D9Sports.com is brought to you by Redbank Chevrolet and DuBrook.
But that left knee — his plant knee when he throws — was holding him back. More mentally than physically.
“I got through football season fine and it never bothered me,” Hummell said. “I was worried about it with the javelin because it’s my plant leg and I have to stiffen that leg and extend it to get a good throw. I was really struggling with that at the beginning of the year confidence-wise because I was worried about doing more damage to it.”
First-year Clarion-Limestone throwing coach Keith Martz challenged Hummell.
“He was like, ‘Either you’re gonna keep babying it and not do well, or you’re gonna trust your brace, build your confidence up and throw like you can,’” Hummell said.
Hummell decided to do the latter.
Working hard with Martz earlier this week, Hummell felt better about where he was in the javelin than he had in a year.
Hummell went out and proved it when he threw the javelin 194 feet, 6 inches at the Redbank Valley Invitational on Thursday to claim gold and break the meet record.
It also broke the school record of 182 feet held by Hummell’s older brother, Riley, since 2018.
Suddenly, all those previous disappointments faded away.
“It was awesome,” Hummell said. “It felt great to get that off my chest, to get that weight lifted. This is how I want to be throwing right now. It’s not how you start. It’s how you finish.”
Hummell is hoping to finish even stronger with the District 9 championships on tap next week, followed by the state meet at Shippensburg University over Memorial Day weekend.
He said Martz has been a big part of his resurgence.
“He’s really been supporting me and helping me out,” Hummell said. “He’s made a huge difference. We worked a lot on footwork and angles, helping me get the javelin to fly the way I wanted it to and it’s really paid off.”
Hummell has a number in mind now: 200 feet.
He thinks that is well within his reach in the next few weeks.
A throw like that would have given Hummell the silver last year at the PIAA championships. The winning throw in Class 2A was 211-9.
Hummell threw 158-7 to win the D9 title and 166-7 at the state meet last May.
“I feel like I have at least 200 in me,” he said. “I told my mom and dad that I want at least that, and now I’m close to it. I felt like I had even more at the meet Thursday, but my elbow started giving out and I scratched my last two throws.”
The elbow is fine. So is the knee.
And, most importantly, Hummell’s psyche.
“I definitely think I can throw farther,” Hummell said. “I’m going to keep working on it.”
Clarion-Limestone Area High School sports coverage on Explore and D9Sports.com is brought to you by Redbank Chevrolet and DuBrook.
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