Dexter thrower has gone from nowhere to somewhere quickly

There is an undeniable truth in life that you can’t achieve something unless you try to do it first. No one knows that more so than Dexter High School senior track and field athlete Andrew Saylors.

Saylors had never picked up a javelin in his life until this spring. Three-plus months later, he very well may end up being a finalist in the event at this week’s MSHSAA Class 3 Track and Field State Championships at Adkins Stadium in Jefferson City this Friday and Saturday.

“He has gone from having an interest in throwing the javelin,” first-year Bearcat coach Chad Jamerson said, “to being fully committed to throwing the javelin.”

Saylors won the recent MSHSAA Class 3 Sectional 1 with a throw of 154 feet, which was nearly 12 feet further than the nearest competitor. Which, given his history in the event, or lack thereof, is astonishing.

After being hired a year ago to lead the Dexter football program, Jamerson walked out onto the beautiful turf field at Charles Bland Stadium to look at the facility, and Saylors was out there playing catch with some other Bearcat players.

“Andrew was one of the first young men that I met,” Jamerson recalled. “He was slinging the football around pretty well.”

Saylors did not earn the starting quarterback position last fall, but his natural throwing motion never left Jamerson’s mind, or that of Bearcat assistant football and assistant track coach Tashan Bittaye, or his Bearcat teammates.

“It was really a community effort,” Jamerson said of convincing Saylors that he had potential in the event.

A lot of voices in Saylor’s ears throughout the winter convinced him to at least try the event this spring, and the immediate results weren’t great.

“I think that he probably had doubts,” Jamerson said. “Throwing a javelin is just not natural. It requires a lot of footwork.”

In early April, Saylors finished third at the Jackson Invitational with a throw of 125 feet, and Jamerson said Saylors felt then that he had had “a breakthrough.”

“That is when we stepped over a threshold,” Jamerson said. “Since then, he has improved, at times, by 11 meters.”

Saylors, who had never participated in track and field prior to this spring, has the ninth-best throw within Class 3 coming out of the sectionals, and “has some (colleges) expressing interest in him,” according to Jamerson.

“It has been such a wonderful story and opportunity for Andrew,” Jamerson said. “To find his niche in high school and leave his mark. It has been really fun to watch.”

The Bearcats have turned into a bit of a javelin pipeline of late.

The 2022 Class 3 state champion was former Bearcat Josh Alday, who won the meet last spring with a throw of 174 feet, 4 inches.

“And to be honest with you,” Jamerson said, “we have another state-caliber javelin thrower in (junior) Jaydan Willems.”

Willems suffered an elbow injury earlier this spring and has not competed since, but in 2024, he has the potential to make his mark.

Jamerson credited Bittaye with “fostering a relationship with Andrew and really teaching him the basic fundamentals.”

“Andrew bought into, early on, the coaching,” Jamerson said. “He has thrived.”

The javelin competition will get underway at 10 a.m. on Friday.