TACOMA — Two of the best javelin throwers at the 2A level all season hailed from the Evergreen Conference. They’ve clashed all spring at nearly every meet, and in the 2A state championship meet at Mount Tahoma High School Thursday, they went head-to-head one last time and both took home hardware.
W.F. West senior Amanda Bennett and Tumwater senior McKayla Clary ranked No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in four different meets this spring, including at the league championship and the district championship. Bennett, a 2023 state champion and 2024 runner-up in the event, finished her javelin career with a third-place medal Thursday, while Clary took the fifth-place medal after failing to pick up a medal last year.
Bennett’s best throw came on her second attempt of the final round at 123 feet, 5 inches, while four of Clary’s six attempts sailed over 120 feet including 122-1 on her last toss.
Each senior credited the other for bringing the best out of one another on the throwing field, particularly in their final campaigns.
“She’s definitely my javelin bestie. I love going to meets and seeing her, and I think it’s good for us to have a competition with each other and actually be friends and not be hostile with each other,” Bennett said of her rival.
“I love her so much, and I love that we’re able to have friendly competition and encourage each other and push each other,” Clary added. “When one person throws far, the other one wants to and we’re hyping each other up the whole time. I’m gonna miss throwing with her.”
Bennett’s javelin career concludes with three straight top-three finishes at state, but she said this season was the first in her career where she wasn’t so hyperfocused on every little detail.
“It’s really special to me because I love this sport so much. I’m going out with a bang, I guess,” Bennett said. “[My biggest area of growth] is not being hard on myself. I realized that if I don’t do that, I feel better because I’m having fun. It makes me more calm and I throw better when I’m calm.”
After a 12th-place verdict at state as a junior, Clary was motivated to reach the podium alongside Bennett in her final meet. She said the biggest improvement she made since last year’s disappointing finish was “going back to the basics” and fine-tuning her windup. This year, she temporarily tried a full approach rather than her shortened three-step approach, but she knew the three-step gave her the best shot.
“Today, I was focusing on the basics and focusing on not bringing my arm too high and my footing. It’s so cool to be able to get a medal,” Clary said. “Last year, I didn’t finish where I wanted and didn’t have great throws. That really showed me that I needed to work harder for the next year, and I needed to use that to fire myself up so that I could compete here again and to give myself motivation.”
