With his final toss, Scott Sloan wins a national championship
He’s a Wheaton College record holder, an All-American and a national champion in the javelin. For most individuals, that may be considered a stellar college career. Scott Sloan ’28 is just beginning his sophomore year.
A three-sport high school athlete (soccer, basketball and track) at The Wheeler School in Providence, R.I., Sloan was the top-ranked javelin thrower in New England as a senior.
He joined the Wheaton men’s track and field team last fall, and this spring he set new college, conference and meet records in the javelin. Sloan earned numerous postseason accolades, including U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association East Region Field Athlete of the Year and First Team Outdoor Track & Field All-American.
He competed most of the season through nagging injuries, from which he hopes to heal so he can pursue his dream to make the U.S. Track & Field Team and compete at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
Sloan heard about Wheaton from fellow Wheeler School graduates who had attended the college. “It was close to home, I knew some people on the track team and I really liked [Coach] Kim Spence ’04, the coaches and the guys on the team when I visited,” he said.
While in high school, a broken foot led to subsequent injuries to his legs. Once he arrived on campus, Sloan spent much of his time focused on recovering so he could compete in the javelin. “I’ve sacrificed other things in my life to be good and succeed,” he said. “I can’t even run every day because my foot could break.”
In addition to the leg ailments, Sloan was limited this season by tendinitis in his elbow. “At a meet, I would usually take one throw, then back out,” he said. Sloan placed first in all four meets in which he competed, throwing more than 60 meters each time.
“In the competitions, I don’t pay much attention to what other people are doing,” he explained. “It’s more about seeing my potential and trying to improve myself. I focus on being as perfect as I can, and for me, the winning has come with it.”
At the NCAA Division III National Championship meet, Sloan was in 18th place among 22 competitors after two throws, then threw just under 60 meters to move up to ninth and make the finals. After two throws in the finals, he remained in ninth, then leapt to first with his final throw, a school-record toss of 67.97 meters. When the eight remaining competitors fell short of his mark with their last throw, Sloan became the first Wheaton student-athlete to earn an individual national title since Dan Olson ’05 won the high jump in 2004.
“Before the last two throws I realized that I wasn’t keeping my shoulder closed, and that’s what makes it work,” he said. “My next to last throw was horrible (60 meters), but I came at the last one with confidence that it was going to be good and it just went.
“Winning the championship was an amazing feeling after a year of doubting that I would be able to perform well with an injured elbow. Regardless of the outcome of my competitors, throwing a personal best was a blessing in itself.”
This was the second time that Sloan had won a national championship. As a high school senior in the spring of 2024, he earned the title of national champion after winning the New Balance Nationals Outdoor competition with a throw of 62.95 meters.
Competing and succeeding this season, despite the challenges, makes Sloan confident about his future.
“What gets me the most excited is what I was able to accomplish despite everything that I dealt with this season,” he reasoned. “I know I’m the best if I’m healthy.”
Sloan believes that if he can heal and train properly, greatness awaits. “My elbow is the only thing that will stop me,” he said, believing that if he builds strength and is able to practice regularly “I could actually go to the Olympics.”
His title-winning throw this season would have placed 11th at the 2024 U.S. Olympic trials, so Sloan’s assertion does not lack merit. He has also trained privately with former U.S. Olympic javelin thrower Sean Furey.
“No American had an automatic qualification (of 85.5 meters for the Olympics) last year,” he said. “I think I could qualify for the trials, but I’d like to go for that automatic qualification, so I don’t have to throw two different days to qualify.”
Before that happens, Sloan spent the summer coaching kids at Moses Brown School in Providence, and volunteered as a coach for the Providence Cobras, a youth track & field club.
As a sophomore, he will also need to decide upon a major. “I’m thinking maybe finance or business economics,” he says. “I’m trying to figure out what I’m going to be passionate about, in the same way that I have that passion for sports.”
—By Troy Watkins