Riech returns to teach throwers

The legend returns; and here comes an opportunity to learn from two of the masters of javelin throwing in the United States.

Legendary Hot Springs athlete Todd Riech, who won two State C team track and field championships all by himself in the late 1980s and later qualified as a javelin thrower to represent the United States for the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta after winning the US Trials that year, will be back in Montana later this month to give back some of his knowledge to the current and up-and-coming crop of javelin throwers in the Big Sky Country.

Now a resident of Orange County, Calif., Riech and fellow Olympic javelin thrower Brittany Borman have announced they will be directing a three-session javelin throwing camp in Kalispell at Glacier High School and at Eureka High School June 23 and 24.

There will be two sessions held at Glacier from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 2-6 p.m. June 23 and another at Eureka from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. June 24. The cost of the instruction is $100 per session and will include: individual training; group training; javelin-specific drilling; and drinks and snacks will be included for the price of admission.

To register, visit the javelincamps.com website. For more information contact Todd Riech, Brittany Borman or Lisa Riech Mueller (Todd’s sister in Hot Springs) via the Facebook social media site. Limited spots are available, so organizers urge prospective participants to register early.

A phenomenal athlete in whatever sport he tried while growing up in Hot Springs, Riech won 11 individual State C event titles in track and field (including two in the javelin) while competing for what was then known as the Hot Springs Savages in high school, and twice amassed enough points all on his own to win State C boys team titles, the first time in 1988 and again in 1989.

At the State C meet his senior year at Hot Springs, Riech ran down wins in the 100, 200 and 400 meter runs, and in the 300 meter hurdles, in addition to winning the javelin to put an exclamation point on his outstanding prep career.

Recruited as a decathlete by Fresno State, Riech attended school there but could not compete in the decathlon in college due to injuries, and instead focused on the javelin.

Riech went on to an amazing javelin-throwing career after that, winning the 1994 NCAA championship, placing third in the 1995 Pan American Games and winning the Olympic US Trials in 1996 to qualify for that year’s Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, where he went on to win 17th place in the world.

He also won third in the 2000 US Trials but could not compete in that season, although he had earned the right to do so by placing third in the Trials.

Borman has had an incredible javelin throwing career of her own, winning four NCAA titles while competing for UCLA and then Oklahoma, and making the 2012 and 2016 US Olympic teams.