Jesuit once again kind to Samuel Jennings: Pendleton's standout javelin thrower wins Twilight Relays title by more than 20 feet, moves to No. 2 on national list

The BYU commit is aiming to break Sam Crouser's all-classifications state-meet record of 231-1.

René Ferrán | May 1, 2022

Jesuit once again kind to Samuel Jennings: Pendleton's standout javelin thrower wins Twilight Relays title by more than 20 feet, moves to No. 2 on national list /

By René Ferrán | Photo by Taylor Balkom

Nine months ago, Samuel Jennings traveled the 215 miles from Pendleton to Jesuit High School in Southwest Portland to compete in the USA Track & Field state championships.

He left not only a state champion, but as the No. 3 javelin thrower in state history, his winning mark of 224 feet, 9 inches, ending up No. 2 in the nation last year.

He returned to town Friday for the 20th edition of the Jesuit Twilight Relays, and once again, he left a champion, throwing a season-best 213-5 to win the title by more than 20 feet and move to No. 2 on the 2022 national list.

“With the conditions, I’m very happy with the results,” Jennings said.

Jesuit Twilight Relays 2022 Taylor Balkom 35

Jennings had already met his goal for the day of hitting the low 210s on his first throw, going 210-7. He had three other throws over 200 feet in his series, and for his final throw, he planned on moving his mark up.

“Instead, I ended up throwing a little further back than I would have liked to, but I looked at it like I’d rather get a good throw than a scratch, and that was the 213, so it wasn’t awful,” he said.

Sam Crouser’s state-record throw of 255-4 from 12 years ago while at Gresham appears safe, but Jennings has set his sights on Art Skipper’s 227-7 he threw at Sandy 34 years ago — which would move the BYU commit to No. 2 on the all-time state list — and Crouser’s all-classifications state-meet record 231-1 from 2009.

“This is only my fourth meet of the season, so I feel like I’ve started well,” Jennings said. “I’ve got three more to go, and I’m just trying to chop away at that 230. I’m looking forward to a bigger throw soon.”