SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. (ETY/D9) — Dalton Anderson sprinted down the runway, cocked his powerful right arm back and thrust it forward.
(Above, Dalton Anderson throws the javelin at Westminster College last season/photos courtesy of Westminster College)
As he launched the javelin in an arc, the Moniteau High School graduate felt and heard a pop in his elbow.
He clutched at his arm, which quickly went numb before the tip of the spear burrowed into the turf.
Anderson immediately knew something was terribly wrong.
“We didn’t have my junior season (at Westminster College) because of COVID, so there was a summer meet I did,” Anderson said. “I threw (206 feet, 8 inches) or something like that. After that throw, I couldn’t do anything.”
The diagnosis confirmed his biggest fear. He had partially torn the ulnar collateral ligament and was staring at Tommy John surgery and a long, arduous, year-long recovery.
He’d probably never throw the javelin again.
But Anderson wasn’t content with that fate. He sought a second opinion and that doctor said he could try rest and rehab to avoid surgery.
It was a big gamble to go that route, but it was one Anderson thought was worth taking.
“My mind was going a million places, but I can be stubborn,” Anderson said. “I was like, ‘This can’t be it. This is my senior year. My goal is to win a national championship. I’m going to try to do everything I can.’”
Anderson rested his arm while he competed in other events at Westminster. He threw sparingly and went to rehab every day to build up the muscles around the UCL to compensate.
“I only threw once before the conference meet so I could qualify,” Anderson said. “At the conference meet, I only threw three times and I called it. I didn’t even throw in the finals.”
Anderson, though, uncorked a throw of 200 feet, 4 inches to earn a spot at the NCAA Division III Track and Field National Championships.
At nationals, Anderson decided to let it rip again.
He threw 204-2 to place third and earn All-American honors. It was the best finish at nationals in the event in Westminster College history.
The toll on his arm was evident after the competition.
“I wasn’t even able to move my arm,” he said. “My whole arm and my hand was purple. I couldn’t feel it. I just wanted to do it, to get through my senior year.”
(Dalton Anderson holds his trophy after placing third in the javelin at the NCAA Division III Track and Field Championships last spring.)
Anderson feared he’d need surgery, but once again he took the rest and rehab approach as he searched for a graduate program to earn his MBA.
He had one year of eligibility remaining because of the COVID year and he intended on using it.
Slippery Rock University was the perfect fit.
Anderson is already making a name for himself at The Rock.
With his elbow feeling strong and healthy again, Anderson has won the javelin at every meet so far this season, including one at his old school, Westminster.
Anderson threw 63.97 meters (a career-best 209 feet, 8 inches) at the Bison Outdoor Classic at Bucknell University at his most recent meet. All eight placers threw more than 60 meters in the event.
It was an affirmation for Anderson that his elbow was sound and he was ready to chase an NCAA Division II crown this season.
“The first couple of meets I still had those doubts,” Anderson said. “It was like, ‘OK. What if my arm isn’t 100%?’ I had to snap out of it and say, ‘OK, dude, your arm is fine. Just do you.’ Once I figured that out, that’s when I started doing really well.”
Anderson is focusing almost exclusively on the javelin at SRU after being a heptathlete at Westminster.
His days at Moniteau prepared him for the heptathlon.
“So pretty much all of the events I did in high school were in the multi-events,” Anderson said. “In high school my main events were the 110 hurdles, high jump, javelin and the (1,600-meter relay).”
The one event Anderson had to learn was the pole vault.
That was not an easy thing to do.
“Most people come in as pole vaulters and then turn into multi because pole vault is the hardest event to learn,” Anderson said. “It was a little bit frustrating because I’m a type of guy that if you show me once how to do something, I can usually do it, but I struggled a lot with the pole vault. If one thing goes wrong, it’s over. It’s very, very technical.”
Anderson’s goal in the pole vault was always to just get a height. His career-best was 10 feet.
Failing to clear a height cost him the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Indoor title his last season.
“I was in first, didn’t clear a height, and finished sixth,” Anderson said. “That shows you how many points are at stake in each event.”
Anderson contemplated doing the decathlon at SRU, but decided to focus on his best event, the javelin.
“I kind of wish I could do that,” Anderson said. “It would be nice to have a chance at redemption, something like that, in the dec, but the javelin is my event. I’m going to go out there and try to win that.”
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