It’s been a remarkable summer for Rice Athletics when it comes to Track and Field, but no individual sport has found more success than the javelin.
On her final throw as a collegiate athlete, Rice Athletics’ own Mckyla Van der Westhuizen launched a school-record 60.87m throw to take the lead and eventually win the NCAA Championship in the javelin. It was just the 16th national title in program history and the first for the program in the last 24 years.
That was thought to have been as good of a sendoff as could have been imagined for longtime coach Jim Bevan, who retired at the end of the season. But the Owls weren’t done. Eight days after that title, another Rice Athlete clinched her own share of javelin history.
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Throwing in the USATF U20 National Meet, the Owls’ freshman Emily Harbach out-threw the competition with a 52.68m throw to win the event.
“What a tremendous eight-day span for Rice women’s track and field in the javelin,” Bevan shared in a statement on Monday. “We had our first national champion in 24 years last week by Mckyla, and now have a U20 national champion in the same event by Emily.” Adding later that the “. Our “javelin group will continue to be in great hands.”