LAKE ARIEL, Pa. — Skylar Long is a senior at Western Wayne High School who initially started out running sprints in track and field but found her passion the day her coach asked her to throw a javelin for the first time! Her very first throw in competition earned her a first-place finish! She has been loving it ever since!

What Skylar enjoys most about throwing javelin is not only the sport itself, but how her teammates and her coach bring out the best in her! She tells us that her coaches, “…like Coach Bell, Coach Collins, and Coach Goldstock really have high hopes for me and I have formed great bonds with them as well. It’s like my second home being on that runway.”

Also a member of the volleyball and basketball teams at Western Wayne, Skylar is grateful to compete in these team sports, so that she can experience sports that aren’t as individualized as javelin. Being a member of a team has given her the unique experience of showing her how she can truly have more than one family, which she feels very fortunate about. She considers herself extremely lucky that she has people she can rely on and people who can rely on her. “We just always want to push each other to make each other better,” Skylar acknowledges.

Skylar feels that her biggest challenge in throwing javelin is all the mental preparation including controlling your thoughts before and after a competition. She tells us, “Technique is so important, it doesn’t depend on how strong your arm is, it’s all in how you throw it. This can get frustrating when my throws aren’t going as far, because I must figure out how I’m throwing it wrong and must try and fix it.”

As a pre-game ritual, Skylar drinks an energy drink and blasts music in her air pods before she goes to throw. It helps her gain energy and confidence, which is integral to having the right mindset for competition. She admits that the energy drink isn’t the best  practice, but it helps!

Skylar’s coaches have often told her to not push herself too hard and to the point where it starts becoming detrimental. Javelin is a very easy sport for injuries, so her coaches always make sure that she is properly stretched out and ready to go. They know which workouts are the best for Skylar and, “….go very much out of their way to push me to be the best that I can be,” she explains.

Skylar now is working to beat the school record for javelin (110’ 7”). Her personal record right now for javelin is 110’ 2”, and for discus it’s 95’ 9”. She plans on making it to 100’ for discus as well!

Outside of track and field, she loves playing volleyball, but unfortunately, couldn’t finish her senior season because of an injury.  She does plan to play club volleyball in college though, where she plans to major in Statistics/Finance, and also hopes to continue her track and field career. Best of luck to you, Skylar! Keep aiming high!

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