Becoming a thrower on the NAU track and field team was Javier Villarreal's best option out of high school.
Despite being the Arizona state high school champion in the shot put and discus in 2005, he didn't have offers from schools other than junior colleges asking him to throw. Villarreal has never had the ideal body size compared to many of his competitors.
He hovers around six-feet tall and his body size doesn't jump out as one fitting a national-caliber thrower.
NAU throwing coach Mohamad Saatara admitted as much but he saw the potential in Villarreal when he recruited him.
"He was a pretty good athlete but nothing spectacular," Saatara said. "Nobody thought he was going to be a national-level athlete."
What Villarreal did have, though, was a strong work ethic and a drive to succeed right from the start. But for all his motivation, Villarreal was completely unprepared for the rigors of a college lifestyle.
At his first collegiate meet, he approached the throwing circle with trepidation after seeing all the other big-name schools competing against him. It was a problem Saatara quickly rectified.
"Coach would be like, 'What's your problem? You look like a little scared dog when you're out there,'" Villarreal said. "He goes, 'I know what you're problem is: You're intimidated by the jersey. You know those schools are bigger than the school you go to -- the only thing that makes you different from them and yourself is the jersey they represent and who wants it more. I can see that you want it more.'"
The message hit home instantly and from then on, Villarreal wasn't going to get in his own way.
Saatara made sure of it.
"I was very strong with him in terms of what we wanted to get done. There was only success or nothing. That was our attitude," Saatara said. "He was never challenged (before NAU). Nobody ever expected him to do something and he didn't have the tools to improve himself."
Saatara's seen plenty of athletes who are bigger, stronger and more naturally talented than Villarreal but eventually they become complacent at some point in their career. Few have matched Villarreal's work ethic and willingness to improve.
"They get to a level where they're comfortable and they become sedentary at that level. Javy's never been like that. It's always been like, 'Let's go to the next level,'" Villarreal said.
After winning four Big Sky Conference championships, (two indoor, two outdoor), Villarreal's eyeing his fifth this week in Ogden, Utah.
He set the NAU indoor record for the shot put in January at 61 feet, 10.5 inches, breaking a 20-year old record set by Kent Larson. He made the NCAA Championship last year and the final level of his collegiate career means making it to this year's finals in Eugene, Ore., and earning All-American honors, both of which are within reach.
As of Monday, his outdoor season-best throw of 59-4.25 is the 24th-best mark in the country, though his indoor record would put him in sixth place. He finished 21st overall in last year's outdoor championship in Arkansas and came in 12th place at the indoor championships in March. To reach the finals, he'll have to place among the top nine.
"There's a lot of guys bunched around 60 feet -- any day, somebody can get a big throw," Saatara said.
No matter how he finishes his career, Villarreal has left his mark on the NAU program. Thanks to him, and NCAA-hopeful teammates Andres Rossini in the discus and Curtis Durocher in the hammer throw, NAU is starting to be viewed as more than just a distance running school.
"They're looking at NAU like, 'I want to be a thrower, I can go there and be a thrower,'" Saatara said. "Kids obviously look at results. He's been here and he was developed here. Just seeing what he's done at NAU, he's changing a lot of the conceptions of what NAU is about -- I'm very proud of that. We want to show we can do all the events."
Jacob May can be reached at 556-2257 or jmay@azdailysun.com
