Rainier’s Texas-bound Nubbe grabs national discus lead with signature event still to come

Athletes often ease into a new season, building toward their best efforts.

Jeremiah Nubbe, in contrast, wasted no time getting his 2022 track and field season underway.

In Rainier High School’s (just southwest of Yelm) second competition of the season, a seven-team home meet on March 17, Nubbe uncorked a 205-feet, 2-inch attempt that’s led the nation’s prep discus throwers since, though Brett Schwartz of Santa Fe Trail, Kansas snuck closer last week with a 204-2 toss.

“I don’t play any other sports, it’s all track and field,” Nubbe said. “So with all the work I put in during the off-season, I have pretty high expectations. I expected to come out and hit a PR (personal record) the first couple meets of the season.”

Rainier coach Josh Frunz, a former school record holder in the shot put until Nubbe eclipsed his mark, noticed the results of that off-season work, much of it accomplished under Yelm Track Club coach Chris Stovall.

“Jeremiah came back much quicker and stronger,” said Frunz. “His vertical jump’s up to 37 inches flat footed. He’s just a beast in the weight room. His squat is in the 500s, his power cleans are in the mid-300s.”

Nubbe’s early throw eclipsed his own previous best by nine feet, but he’s still stalking the 25-year old state record of 207-2, held by West Valley of Spokane’s Vinnie Pecht.

“I wanted to break the state record in the first couple of meets just to get it over with, but I haven’t yet, which is a little bit disappointing in my eyes,” he said. “It’s still mid-season so I have plenty of opportunities to go after it.”

Nubbe won the discus as a freshman at the 2B state meet in 2019 with a throw of just 147-1 and hasn’t lost in a live meet since, finishing sixth in a nationwide “virtual” meet once in 2020. The chances to claim another state title this season and perhaps break the state meet record in the process are welcome.

“I would’ve like to have had the opportunity to four-peat. COVID made that no longer a possibility,” he said. He did win the national Junior Olympics title for 17- and 18-year-olds last summer with a throw of 189-1.

“He’s got great rotation and a great release,” said Frunz.

Nubbe is also Class 2B’s top shot putter at 55-3, third in all classifications. The Mountaineer boys have strong competitors in pole vaulters Ryan Dodge and Dylan Davis and triple jumpers Thomas Ronne and Chase McFarland. They’ve got a chance for a team podium finish when the state meet takes place at Eastern Washington University during late May.

“It would be exciting to bring this program something it’s never had before,” said Nubbe.

With success comes a natural tendency for Nubbe’s teammates to look up to him. He tries to bring as many as he can to their own best levels.

“With the other throwers on our team, I definitely try to be of service and help with some extra cues and insights, adding some other perspectives,” he said. “Always giving back is important.”

Frunz has noticed.

“He’s an inspiration to all the kids,” he said. “Jeremiah is not just about Jeremiah. He’s a selfless kid. He’s always willing to help other kids with their technique.”

Interestingly, Nubbe has created all the excitement around his 2022 season without yet competing in what may be his best event, the one that may provide him with the most logical path to a professional career and a bid for a spot on a future U.S. Olympic team, the hammer.

At 6-3, 220 pounds, Nubbe’s build is ideal for the hammer, more so than for the discus, whose top competitors tend to be much larger.

Hammer is not an event on the WIAA schedule. Last season Nubbe got in a March competition on his way to a state championship throw of 221-5 for the Yelm Track Club in a June meet, the second best throw of the year nationally by a high schooler.

This season, he won’t have thrown the hammer heading into this weekend’s Oregon Relays in Eugene.

“I would’ve liked to have already had two or three meets in, but they’ve been hard to find this season,” he said.

Nubbe has signed with the University of Texas, picking the Longhorns over Stanford and Washington, after putting himself on UT’s radar.

“I reached out to them my junior year” he said. “I’d been following their program for quite a while, following their athletes’ successes.”

Throws coach Zeb Sion was also a factor. Sion coached American women’s gold medalist Valarie Allman, herself a volunteer assistant at Texas, at the Olympics in Tokyo last summer.

“I saw Texas as the best option if I’m going to accomplish my goals,” Nubbe said. “The environment you’re in year round is going to shape you.”

Texas’ aeronautical engineering major also attracted Nubbe, who comes from a family of engineers and knows that professional track and field can be a short-lasting, low-paying career.

“I like where the aerospace industry is going, with Space X, Virgin Galactic, all these private organizations that are building a growing market,” he said. “Being a part of that is a great opportunity and fits my interests.”

Regardless of his goals, Frunz admires Nubbe’s approach.

“What stands out about him is his self-discipline,” he said. “If every kid did what Jeremiah does, I’m not saying they’d be first in the nation, but they’d be pretty awesome. It’s amazing what he can do.”