By Frank Rajkowski, SJU Writer/Video Producer

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. - Brett Hague first picked up a javelin just 14 months ago. But the Saint John's University junior is already among the nation's best at throwing it at the NCAA Division III level.
 
"I was never really exposed to it because it's not an event in high school (in Minnesota)," said Hague, who threw both the shot put and discus during his prep career at Brainerd High School, where he was also a starting center for the football team.
 
"We talked about me trying it during my freshman year here (in 2020), but the outdoor season was cancelled because of COVID and I never got the chance. So early March of last year was the first time I gave it a shot."
 
His aptitude was immediately apparent. 
 
In his first go-around, Hague won the javelin with a throw of 44.64 meters at a triangular meet on March 27, 2021 in Collegeville. He went on to finish third at the 2021 MIAC outdoor meet with a toss of 53.04 meters.
 
"After seeing him toying around with the indoor practice spears, I knew he had some ability right away simply because he had a feel for throwing the javelin straight," said SJU assistant coach Joe Vardas, who works with the javelin throwers. "I can often tell pretty quickly whether somebody will be good at it by that aspect."
 
Vardas said it helped Hague had competition from teammate Maguire Petersen, who finished second at the conference meet a year ago with a throw of 54.66 meters and qualified for the Division III nationals. Petersen, who also qualified for nationals in the high jump a year ago, has concentrated on the decathlon this season. Despite also qualifying for nationals again in the high jump, the decathlon is the event on which he will focus exclusively there this season. 
 
But his continuing presence has helped make Hague a better javelin thrower.
 
"It just helps that he's had somebody on our own team to compete and train with," Vardas said.
 
Hague also made the choice to focus more exclusively on the event.
 
"Last year, I was doing three events -- the shot put, the hammer throw and the javelin -- and I really had to split my practice time," said Hague, who won the Central Lakes Conference title in the shot put as a senior at Brainerd. "This year, I'm just doing the javelin and hammer, and the hammer is really only a pastime. Most of my attention goes to the javelin."
 
That focus has paid off as Hague won the javelin with a personal-best throw of 61.96 meters at this season's conference meet held last weekend at Saint Mary's in Winona. That performance ranks eighth in Division III this spring and qualifies him for the outdoor national meet May 26-28 in Geneva, Ohio.
 
It also helped lead the Johnnies to their first MIAC outdoor team title since 2011.
 
"I didn't really know what to expect (in the javelin) at first," Hague said. "It just seemed like an event that not many people were doing and I thought I might be able to help the team. It turned out I have kind of a knack for it, I guess."
 
Hague's road to success in the event somewhat mirrors that of an SJU javelin standout from the early 2000s. 
 
Tom Engwall was an offensive lineman on the Johnnies' football team. One afternoon, SJU was working on kick-off returns and the kickers were having a tough time keeping the ball in bounds. Legendary former head coach John Gagliardi asked for a quarterback to throw the ball deep instead. Engwall volunteered, despite not having played the position since junior high.
 
Gary Fasching, now the head coach, but then an assistant in both football and track, was impressed by how deeply he was able to launch the ball and convinced him to give the javelin a try. 
 
"The quarterbacks were warming up on the other field," Fasching recalls. "John told me to go get a quarterback to throw the ball down so we could work on our kick returns. Engwall said he could throw it down, but John insisted on a quarterback. I told Tom to take one throw while we got a quarterback from the other field.
 
"Engwall proceeded to throw the ball about 70 yards - over the heads of our return guys which made John even more mad. The quarterbacks came after that, but I went up to Tom and told him that was the farthest I had ever seen anyone throw a football."
 
Engwall went out for track for the first time in the spring of 2001 and won the MIAC title. He studied abroad during the track season in 2002, but returned to win another conference championship and finish fourth in the nation in 2003. He still holds the school record in the event with a throw of 67.80 meters.
 
Engwall then went on to compete for a season as a graduate student at the University of Texas, winning a Big 12 title and qualifying for the U.S. Olympic Trials in 2004. He was back on campus for a visit this spring and worked with both Hague and Petersen.
 
"(Engwall) came to one of our practices in late April and I think that was inspirational for Brett," Vardas said. "Tom and Maguire are both from Hutchinson and they started communicating last spring after Maguire's success in the event. When Tom contacted me earlier this year I thought Brett might be the guy to benefit from (his) visit since he was looking good in training and Maguire began to focus more on the multi-events -- heptathlon indoors and decathlon outdoors.
 
"A cool thing about his visit is that Tom sent one of Maguire's javelin throws to one of his friends to analyze quickly. That friend responded quickly and was none other than Trey Hardee, two-time World Decathlon Champion and the Decathlon silver medalist at the 2012 London Olympics. He and Tom were teammates at Texas. That was perhaps a little inspirational for Maguire."
 
Hague, meanwhile, is an accounting major who hopes to pursue a career in federal law enforcement after he graduates a year from now. He is a member of the SJU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and has been part of the finance club on campus.
 
This fall, he plans to study abroad in Athens.
 
"I love history and Greece is where the Olympics and track and field really got started," he said. "So that seemed like a pretty cool place to go."
 
Before that, though, he has business to attend to at what will be his first appearance at nationals.
 
"There are goals I could set for myself, but I'm trying not to," he said. "I want to go in with no expectations and focus on doing the same things I've been doing all season. 
 
"I'm trying not to worry so much about distance and to just concentrate on my technique and doing the best I can."