Beginner's pluck

For somebody who came to Southeast Missouri State as a baseball player, Jason Theodorakos isn't faring too badly in his "second" collegiate sport.

Theodorakos has put together a strong rookie season throwing the javelin for the Redhawks' track and field program, and he'll join various teammates in this weekend's Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa, which is the final tuneup for the Ohio Valley Conference Championships.

"I'm as surprised as anybody at what I've done," Theodorakos said prior to a recent workout at the Abe Stuber Track and Field Complex. "I had no idea."

Despite having never thrown the javelin until about a week before the current school year started, Theodorakos has the top distance in the OVC this season -- 192 feet, 3 inches, posted while placing second at Southeast's Gatorade Classic early this month. That distance ranks 10th on the school's all-time list.

Theodorakos has a victory to his credit -- at his very first collegiate meet, the season-opening Rhodes College Invitational in late March -- along with numerous other top-five finishes.

"Very few states have the javelin in high school, so most everybody we get has to pretty much start from scratch," Southeast coach Joey Haines said. "But Jason has really picked it up well."

Injuries pave way

Theodorakos, a 2002 graduate of Chaminade High School in St. Louis County, was an all-state baseball player who signed for that sport with Southeast.

As a freshman infielder in 2003, Theodorakos saw action in nine games, going 1-for-3 at the plate. He believed he had a bright future with the Redhawks.

But things quickly changed. First, after playing in two early games as a sophomore in 2004, he suffered an injury and was redshirted.

Then, while lifting weights last May, he suffered a chest injury during a workout on the bench press. That lingered, meaning he couldn't play summer baseball, and he decided to quit the sport about two weeks before school started.

"I just never felt confident in my abilities at that time," Theodorakos said.

As it turned out, Joey Pilcher -- another young Southeast baseball player -- also decided to give up the sport at about the same time. Pilcher is the brother of Southeast track star Kaci Pilcher, who completed her eligibility last season.

"When we heard Joey was quitting baseball, we told Kaci to get her brother out here to throw the javelin," said Haines, noting that throwing a baseball or softball follows a somewhat similar motion to throwing the javelin, and Southeast has had past success in the javelin with athletes who played baseball or softball in high school.

"Joey was going to do it, he knew Jason was quitting baseball too, and he got him fired up for it," Haines added. "Then Joey decided not to do it, but Jason ended up trying it."

With the initial suggestion from Joey Pilcher and some prodding from Kaci Pilcher, Theodorakos called assistant coach Eric Crumpecker, who works with the throwers.

"I called coach Crumpecker and came out one day about a week before school started," Theodorakos said. "He let me throw. I didn't do very well, but I saw an opportunity here. I thought maybe I could be good at it."

An emotional start

It's not like Theodorakos picked up on the javelin right away, recalling with a laugh: "I never threw more than 160 feet in practice."

But during his first meet, at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tenn., on March 19, Theodorakos ripped off a throw of 189-11 to win the title.

"It was eye-opening," he said. "I figured maybe I was better than I thought."

He also knows that he had plenty of emotional support that day. His mother was diagnosed in December with a fairly advanced stage of cancer that had reached her liver, stomach and lungs. She wasn't doing all that well, but she decided to attend the meet.

"My mom has been my hero, I look up to her so much. She was having a rough week with her chemo, but she sat in the heat about six hours until I finally got to throw," he said. "I asked the Lord to help me, to let me do this for my mom. Then I threw about 30 feet further than I had ever thrown in my life.

"It was amazing. I got in tears. She calls it our angels pulling the javelin."

Maybe it's coincidence, maybe it's not, but Theodorakos said his mom has been doing much better in recent weeks.

"She's gone to a few meets, she's doing better. One of her tumors has shrunk by about 30 percent," he said. "I really believe emotions play a huge part in her fight. I hope what I'm doing helps."

Tougher than expected

Theodorakos said when he first took a stab at throwing the javelin, "I didn't know what to expect. But it's been a lot tougher than I expected. Each day it's been tougher.

"Just when you think you have it figured out, you don't. It's like baseball. You can have a 4-for-4 day, then you don't get a hit for a week. It's so technical. It took me weeks to get it to fly right."

But Crumpecker -- who works with Theodorakos on a daily basis and who Haines credits for much of the athlete's rapid development -- believes Theodorakos is progressing very well.

"I'm a little bit surprised he's doing this well for a guy who hadn't touched a javelin until six, seven months ago," Crumpecker said. "But he's doing great. He really works at it."

Theodorakos is a sophomore in eligibility, meaning he has two seasons to compete after this year.

"So he can be really good if he keeps progressing like this," Crumpecker said. "Eastern Illinois has the defending OVC champion, but he hasn't thrown farther than Jason so far. Jason should be in the running for the [OVC] title."

Theodorakos, who said he often shakes his head when thinking about the strange turn of events that led to his throwing the javelin, has his sights set on capturing the OVC crown -- and having his mom's health continue to improve.

"I miss baseball so much. I played it my whole life. But my mom always says things happen for a reason," he said. "I would never have thought when I came here three years ago that I'd be on the track team with the best mark in the OVC.

"You never know that will happen the next two years, but coach Crumpecker tells me a lot that my upside is huge. I'm still a novice, a beginner. I hope one day to make it to nationals. But right now my goal is to win the OVC and get my mom better. Whatever I win, it's for her."