Track And Field Kingco Boys -- Frazier Just Threw Himself Into It

Some day you might spot Jon Frazier driving around the Eastside. He's the one who has what appears to be a couple of massive knitting needles sticking out of a rear window. It's an unexpected image of enduring peculiarity.

"I get some crazy looks from people when I have these strange-looking things sticking out of my car," said Frazier, 18. "Little kids come up to me in a park and ask me, `What the heck are those things?' "

It turns out they're javelins, which Frazier sometimes carts to remote areas for some private quality time. But what on earth for?

Last spring at Eastlake High School, Frazier inadvertently discovered he's one of the best prep athletes in the state at hurling high-tech toothpicks remarkably long distances.

At this time last year, Frazier was tossing a javelin for the first time in his life. A little more than two months later, he was crowned the state 4A champion in the event.

Interlake's Matt Wagner had nearly identical epiphany last year. He, too, took up the javelin for the first time last March and, in May's 3A state final, came within one inch of a state title.

Frazier never imagined he had met his athletic destiny when he picked up the javelin last spring.

"I went out for track basically because I wanted to stay in shape and be with my friends," said Frazier, also the starting point guard on Eastlake's state-tournament basketball team.

"Throws, I realized, are the one thing in track where you don't have to do a lot of running. I had played a lot of baseball, and throwing seemed to come naturally to me. So a couple of my friends, Evan Wright and Paul Gunther, showed me the javelin. I thought it was something I could try and see how it worked out."

It worked out fine.

"We wanted him to run the 400 and high jump," Eastlake Coach Mark Eager said. "But he probably didn't want to be the one vomiting at the end of workouts, so he tried the javelin. His development was incredible to watch."

"My first throws were going all crooked," Frazier said. "I tried different grips and release points, and I improved. As the season went along, I realized I had a talent for it."

He heeded instruction provided by assistant coach Charlie Cohen, who had thrown for Arizona State.

"He's so knowledgeable about the sport," Frazier said. "We worked hard on the fundamentals and made sure I had such a good foundation that my hands and foot position became second nature to me."

Frazier is no stranger to challenges, phsycial or emotional. In his sophomore year, he lost a close friend, Joe Bolger, who died of a heart attack at 17. Frazier found strength in a conversion to Christianity and an outlet in highly focused athletic pursuits.

With the javelin, Frazier seemed to improve on a weekly basis. He placed third at the KingCo championships.

"I really got serious about it in the postseason," Frazier said. "I'm a very competitive person, and throwing really became fun."

Frazier will be flinging javelins for Duke next year.

"They're really developing their track program right now," he said. "I thought about going to Stanford to be with my buddy Curtis (Borchardt, Eastlake's 6-foot-11 center), but Duke is a school I've always wanted to attend."

Frazier, whose dad works in the banking industry, is thinking of studying business at Duke when he's not pushing the stick.

"My dad and I have joked about starting an agency," he said. "We'll start by representing my buddies, Matt (Berry, BYU-bound Eastlake quarterback) and Curtis. I think I might have an edge in signing them up."