HUDSON – They call themselves the “jav babies.”
In late May, three Hudson High School Hawks – Savannah Gao, Erica Korowski, and Leila Mullahy – made their school proud, placing in the top six at the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association Division 5 javelin championship and advancing to the all-state meet.
Jumping into javelin
The widespread javelin success was unexpected. In fact, Korowski and Mullahy only picked up the sport this year. Gao, the most experienced javelin athlete of the bunch, has only two years of experience.
“I started… track last year for soccer because I wanted to get faster and build my endurance and speed,” Gao, who is also one of Hudson’s soccer captains, said. “I’ve been throwing my whole life – not javelins, but footballs for fun with my brother… so I was like ‘OK, why not try javelin?’”
Korowski, another soccer captain, joined for similar reasons.
Mullahy, who also plays basketball and golf, started javelin on a whim.
“I had never thrown a javelin before, but I used to play softball… I was standing out next to Savannah and Erica, and [Coach Bill Gaudere] said he wanted another person to throw. He was like, ‘Can I see you throw it?’ I threw it, and he put me in,” Mullahy said.
Mullahy’s first javelin throw – ever – was good enough to place third at that meet.
Training begins
Once the group found javelin, they worked hard to master the craft.
Although the group humorously described the sport as “throwing a large toothpick,” the truth is that to be successful, athletes must be dedicated and have proper technique.
“I watched a lot of YouTube videos. At track meets, I would talk to the other team and ask them how they would throw and I would analyze every little move… Throughout the season, I competed, and then I analyzed,” Gao said.
The athletes were already friends, but the relentless javelin training only brought the group closer. The “jav babies” were born.
“For me and Leila, it was definitely cool to see Savannah. She’s our biggest mentor, and I think all of us together challenged each other and we were each other’s motivators to keep going and get better,” Korowski said. “We’re all working on different things, but at the same time, we’re all coming together at the end.”
“I think we’re each other’s biggest cheerleaders. We hype each other up,” Gao added.
Competition day
Once the MIAA Division 5 championship rolled around, the team was apprehensive, but each member was able to push through their nerves and put their best foot forward.
“I was definitely nervous, but I was excited at the same time. I kind of had nothing to lose. I was just going to try to throw my best, and I ended up throwing the best I had all season. It was really fun to experience that,” Korowski said.
According to distances posted on AthleticNET, Mullahy – ranked 17th before the tournament – pushed herself into sixth place with an impressive 108-foot-8-inch throw.
“The first throw was my best one… I wasn’t thinking when I was throwing. I was scared, and I just threw it,” she remembered.
Korowski’s 113-foot-4-inch throw propelled her into fifth place.
Gao, the now two-time Division 5 state champion in javelin, grabbed first place with an impressive 128-foot-3-inch throw. She was nervous heading into the event.
“I was overthinking [beforehand], my throws weren’t what I wanted. I went into the meet thinking I wasn’t going to get first… I wasn’t expecting much from it. The week before the meet I barely practiced, and at the meet, I just winged it,” she said.
Gao is also a two-time league champion and last year’s district champion. In April, she broke a 45-year-old school javelin record.
On the podium
After placing first, fifth, and sixth, Hudson had three athletes on the podium.
“Three Hudson girls – [I thought] that would never happen,” Gao said. “I was so proud of them – normally you wouldn’t get three people from the team placing in one event.”
“We did it as a team. We worked together and pushed each other,” Mullahy said.
Spencer Fortwengler, the team’s head coach, said it’s rare to have three incredible athletes simultaneously compete in one event.
“This is my 17th year of coaching. For years I didn’t get anyone in the 90-foot range, and then to have a year where you have three kids over 100 [feet]. Pretty cool. It says a lot about them personally – their ability to reign in what they’ve learned and put it into use, but also the program and their ability to buy into it,” he said.
All three athletes gave credit to their coaches, noting how they always pushed them to be their best and spent hours helping them improve their technique.
Gao, Korowski, and Mullahy are rising seniors, and they look forward to competing in javelin next year.
