Jven’s last shot one for the ages

Track & Field coverage presented by ATT Sports, Inc.

By Jason Guarente — MikeDragoSports.com senior correspondent

SHIPPENSBURG — High expectations have ridden shotgun with Jven Williams every time he stepped into the circle. Maybe that’s why he was able to stay so calm.

The record Wyomissing’s junior was supposed to break remained stubbornly out of reach. As the weeks passed and his chances dwindled, he never lost confidence. He seemed certain he’d get there. 

On the next-to-last throw of his storybook season, it finally clicked. Williams earned his place in history.

Williams reached 66-7.75 to shatter a 20-year-old Berks County mark and win Class 2A gold at the PIAA Track and Field championships at Seth Grove Stadium Saturday.

“I got it during practice drills but I couldn’t really get it during a meet when it mattered,” he said. “I always knew it was there.”

It was the second gold medal of a memorable weekend for Williams, who won the discus Friday. It was the exclamation point for his career.

Dane Miller set the county record at 62-6.25 in 2002 and it has stood on a razor’s edge as a steady stream of great throwers challenged it in recent years. Williams shattered that mark by more than four feet and broke Joe Kovacs’ PIAA record of 64-10.75 in the process.

The Penn State football recruit, who will likely forego his senior track season, put the new number in the stratosphere.

“To have my name in history, that means a lot,” Williams said. “It shows that I’m versatile. I’m not just a football guy. I can throw it around a little bit.”

Williams was running out of time once the competition reached the finals. That’s when he approached throws coach Ty Smith with an unusual request.

The junior asked everyone watching to clap along on his penultimate attempt. That usually doesn’t happen until the final throw. 

“It’s your world,” Smith said, “we’re all just living in it. Let’s have some fun.”

Williams, who surpassed 65 twice during the District 3 meet only to have those results erased by fouls, left no doubt this time. 

Berks Catholic’s Brady Mider had a front-row seat to the magic. The sophomore, who finished second in the shot put and sixth in the discus, knows the distance he’ll spend the next two years chasing.

“I was pretty pumped,” Mider said. “I knew it was going far. It was incredible. He’s a hard worker. He wants to always be better. He’s a great competitor and a great kid.”

Smith has described Williams as a unicorn, a one-of-a-kind athlete for his size. One of his most impressive feats this spring happened when no one was around to watch. It came at the end of the district meet.

Williams stood flat-footed and jumped over one of the stray hurdles that was resting on the infield. Then, apparently unimpressed with himself, he lined up one of the high hurdles and did the same thing.

The new county record holder is a 6-4, 285-pound freak of nature. He possesses small man skills in a big man’s body. It’s the reason a Division I football career is waiting for him.

“I always tell people I’m a running back, I’m not a lineman,” Williams said. “I’m an ATH. I can do it all. I talk around like that a little bit.”

Williams was the only Berks boy or girl to break a county record this season. It was the first time a boys record has fallen since 2018.

Saturday brought the final piece of hardware left on Williams’ checklist. It brought what Smith called the perfect throw.

“When you have the best thrower in the state of Pennsylvania, he’s got to perform every meet,” Smith said. “And he did. Today was the culmination of everything. He just put it all together. It was amazing.”

It happened just like Williams expected. The unicorn reached a number that was hard to believe.