The RoundHouse | 5/10/2019 9:07:00 PM

 
Jeff True, a coach and history teacher at Southern Coffey County High School, remembers coming home for his planning period so his son could throw.
 
From baseball to javelin, Aaron True's arm always worked well, a clean, powerful motion sharpened by work on technique and powered by a growth spurt. Years later, Aaron True is one of the nation's best javelin throwers.
 
"As soon I would pull up, he would stand there with a baseball glove," Jeff True said. "My glove and his glove. We would go out and play catch on the street for 30, 35 minutes every day. If it rained, his mom would bring him up to school and we would play in the gym."
 
On Friday, Jeff True, LaDonna True and sons Nathan and Ryan joined around 30 family and friends from around LeRoy, about 120 miles east of Wichita, to cheer on Aaron in the American Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships outside Cessna Stadium. 
 
As expected, Aaron True won easily, with a throw of 239 feet, 3 inches, to claim his third conference title. Wichita State sophomore Jeff Ast finished second at 197-5.
 
True entered the meet ranked third nationally and first in the NCAA West Regional with a season-best of 247-2. Friday was about adding to his 2017 Missouri Valley Conference title and defending last season's American title while continuing to build for the NCAA West Preliminaries and NCAA Championships.
 
Friday's cool weather and no breeze didn't provide top conditions for True to challenge his best throws.
 
"I was hoping for a little bit more," he said. "It's pretty awesome to come away with a third conference championship. It's one of the few goals that I've had this year."
 
The story of a late-bloomer from a small school is a regular one around Wichita State track and field. Aaron True played many sports and competed in several events in track and field, as many of those small-town athletes do. He was helped by Jeff True's coaching in the javelin – both of his brother threw the javelin and keeping up with them in all sports motivated the youngest.
 
"I was always chasing them around, trying to do what they were doing," Aaron True said. "Playing pickup basketball - I was always the little one, so it teaches you to be tough. You obviously want to be better than your brothers someday."
 
Jeff True coaches volleyball, girls basketball and track and field. Aaron followed him to practices as a youngster. When track practice ended, Jeff True remembers him picking up a javelin and starting to figure out how to throw.
 
"He's always loved playing catch," Jeff True said. "He's the youngest of three boys and they all liked to play catch. When they were done, he was the one who wanted to play more."
 
Aaron True was around 5-foot-4 as a freshman, weighing around 90 pounds. He started to grow as a junior, reaching 6-foot-1 or so as a senior.
 
"He was a scrawny little kid," said LaDonna True. "Long, lanky. But he had a lot of natural ability, and he just worked at it."
 
Aaron True threw 202 feet as a senior and set the Kansas Class 1A meet record. Wichita State coaches were already paying attention. He also considered Kansas State and Nebraska. LaDonna True said Shocker coaches Steve Rainbolt and John Hetzendorf carried the family.
 
"It felt so good, not just the coaching part of it, but that they were good men, role models," she said. "We felt good as parents having him come here because it felt like they were going to take of him. It seemed like that really propelled him to do well."
 
As a freshman, True finished second in the MVC meet with a throw of 214-9. His best that season was 220-7, which previewed the big things to come.
 
"Late bloomer," Hetzendorf said. "He kind of started to grow up a little bit. He just took off. He's really matured and developed physically. Like all good throwers, he's really become a student of the javelin." 
 
True finished eighth in the NCAA meet last season with a distance of 230-6. While he should easily qualify at the West Prelims, he needs to get closer to 260 feet (around 80 meters) to challenge at the top in the national meet in early June.
 
"I've just got to keep being consistent around 72-75 meters and I think the big one will come eventually," he said. "I just hope that it happens at the right time."
 

Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.