Haley Crouser is another name in a long line of Crousers who have experienced track and field success.
Photo courtesy of Cathy Keathley
The magic number now has risen to 194.
For more than six months, Haley Crouser, a junior from
Gresham (Ore.), had plastered her house with papers containing the number 181 - feet that is. The number showed up on her bedroom ceiling, in the bathroom, in literally around 10 places. Her goal was to throw the javelin 181 feet and surpass the national record of 176-8.
Haley Crouser, Gresham
Courtesy photo
During this spring's Aloha Relays in Beaverton, Ore., the powerful 6-footer achieved her dream by putting her name in the record books with a toss of 181-2. And it came on just her second throw of the season. It also is a USA record for those less than 20 years of age.
She threw 166 on her first attempt, then became a prophet with honor when she said to her father-coach, Dean Crouser, "I'm going to get it on the next one."
Realizing what she had done she started crying in happiness and told her father - a three-time NCAA champion and still holder of shot put and discus records at the University of Oregon - that setting goals really does pay off.
She told MaxPreps, "I'm not one to cry very often. It just kind of hit me. That's what I had worked for all my career. The feeling was indescribable."
However, the record was not totally unexpected, because she had a couple of very good workouts during a previous unofficial visit to UCLA. She threw so well, in fact, that her dad took a steel tape measure (a must to ensure a national record) to the Aloha meet.
Those 10 papers throughout the house now list a higher goal: 194.
With her record throw, Haley enhanced the Crouser reputation as the "
First Family of Track & Field." They now hold three national high school records. Her brother, Sam, has the javelin record (255-4), while her cousin, Ryan Crouser, holds the discus record (237-6) and the national indoor shot put record.
Haley and Sam, who still has four years of eligibility at the University of Oregon, both will throw the javelin during this weekend's Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore. Ryan, a rising sophomore at the University of Texas, still hopes to make the field in the discus.
Even though surrounded by older, powerful boys, Haley more than has held her own in sibling competition over the years. And she has been able to retain her femininity.
"I'm not really a tomboy at all," she says, "I have bows in my hair at every track meet. I'm not afraid to go fishing and play (basketball) outside."
Dean added, "Haley is as feminine and girlie as anyone can be, but she always had a toughness about her. She's very capable of holding her own. Sports always have been a part of her life. It's the fabric of our family."
Sam noted, "She's so extremely competitive and athletic. She has worked so hard and she deserves it (suc so much. I'm really proud of her and she should be proud of herself."
Ryan related, "In basketball or football, Haley always was in the middle of it. She never backed down. She is one of the toughest girls I know."
Last weekend Haley added to her list of accomplishments by winning the USATF Junior Nationals with a toss of 166 feet in Bloomington, Ind. Though she wasn't happy with the distance, she was pleased to defeat several collegians and - of course - earn a trip to Barcelona, Spain for the IAAF World Juniors from July 10-15.
Up next, it will be out of the frying pan and into the fire when she throws the javelin against all comers, all ages, during the Olympic Trials in Eugene. Her preliminaries will be June 29, with the finals July 1.
"I'm really excited and super nervous," she admitted. "I feel like it's a really good opportunity to improve as a competitor. It's going to be an action-packed summer."
Haley Crouser, Gresham
Photo courtesy of the Crouser family
The action will conclude at the end of July when she joins an elite USA javelin team that will compete in Finland.
Even though she was born in a family of throwers, Haley didn't exactly embrace the sport as a youngster. She started playing basketball in kindergarten and stayed with it through eighth grade. She also played soccer and later became a volleyball standout.
She did take a crack at track in first grade, but it actually turned her off because she had to run eight 200s as a 6-year-old. In third grade, she tried throwing the turbo (plastic torpedo) javelin and ended up finding her calling, because she won the National Junior Olympics championship in Eugene, the mecca of track.
"I was so nervous," she said. "I'd only been throwing for a couple months. I was pretty shocked. After that I didn't want to quit. I was kind of hooked after that."
Dean Crouser noted that with that championship, "She just sort of took off like she had wings. It was so obvious that she was good at it."
Haley made big headlines as a freshman at Gresham High when she set a Class 6A state record by throwing the javelin 161 feet, a personal record by more than 10 feet. She called it "One of the things that I'll never forget."
Dean pointed out, "She was tall, thin and gangly and beat girls who were so much heavier (and stronger). That's when the light bulb went on. I looked at how poised she was and how competitive. Give her two years to fill out and develop physically."
One year later she established a national sophomore record with a toss of 173 feet at the Centennial Invitational.
Last summer she won the USATF World Youth Trials in Myrtle Beach, S.C., with a throw of 168 feet and qualified for the IAAF World Youth Championships in Lille, France. She placed fourth at 172-3.
She admitted, "I was really disappointed, because I was a foot away from getting on the podium (only top three made it). But I never had gone past California before and it was great to meet all these new people from different countries."
Haley really blossomed this spring as a potential heptathlon star. She not only won the Class 6A javelin (170-11), but also captured the 100-meter hurdles (14.52) and shot put (44-6) while tying for fifth in the high jump (5-5).
Dean acknowledged, "She's one of those kids who can jump around and do a lot of events. There is no bad event for her in the heptathlon."
Haley said her weakest event probably would be the 800.
Since throwing the big one, she has experienced what she calls an "emotional drain" and not really approached it in recent meets. She's working on a few technical things and, above all, trying to stay relaxed.
She reasoned, "I feel like everyone understands and doesn't expect a PR (personal record) every time."
Following the biggest summer of her life, Haley will take off August - a family tradition - and then move right into volleyball where she was team MVP as a junior after using her 32-inch vertical jump to lead the Gophers in hitting and kills. She has stuck with volleyball because her mother, Molly, played at the University of Oregon and helped her love grow for that sport.
Volleyball coach Lori Anderson-Cook said, "She is a Division I-caliber player. She's just a phenomenal day-in, day-out player. She's the kind of kid who always brings her 'A' game. She's just an amazing athlete to do what she does on the volleyball court only three months of the year. I look for her to run the show (as a senior). She is so offensively dominant in our league that she is going to be very hard to stop."
With her sparkling 3.96 GPA (she got a B last year in pre-calculus), Haley has drawn interest from more than 200 colleges. She said her Top 5 at this time are UCLA, Stanford, Texas A&M, Oregon and Oklahoma. She will choose her major from pediatrics, architecture or interior design.
With some great opportunities - and superb competition - upcoming, Haley said, "I don't really feel pressure. I've had those big thrills. I have patience. I know I'm going to hit one (big throw) again and I think it's close."
