There is a clear pressure on anyone who enters an Atlantic 10 (A-10) championship atop their event’s leaderboard, and even more so when that athlete is a freshman. This pressure was hardly apparent on the face of stoic javelin thrower John Teachman ‘28, nor when he secured himself the conference title on his first throw. Teachman landed a distance of 63.34 meters, earning him a gold medal as well as a mark nearly three meters farther than the second place finisher. The Davidsonian sat down with the soft-spoken athlete, whose prowess is all too often obscured by his humility.
Q: Congrats on the first place finish! Could you talk about the competition and the meet overall?
Teachman: The competition for javelin, specifically, was better than I thought it would be, because if you look at last year, Chris [Thompson ‘27] threw 51 [meters] and got third place. But then if you look at this year, you had to throw over 60 to get top three. And the top three people were all freshmen, which just shows that the A-10 was recruiting better javelin throwers because they saw it was a weak spot.
Q: How did you feel approaching your first throw, and what were the emotions like afterward?
Teachman: Approaching my first throw, I felt calm, ready and in control. I knew I was ready because I put in all the work beforehand, and after the throw I just felt excited and relieved, and I knew I pretty much had the competition in the bag at that point.
Q: You have a very calm, almost indifferent demeanor. Is this something you practice or something that comes naturally?
Teachman: It mostly comes naturally. But I do try to make sure I have that demeanor, because I know if I’m tense, I can perform worse, and when I’m more relaxed, I tend to perform better. It just comes more easily that way.
Q: Going off that, what’s the most you’ve ever celebrated a throw, where you can let that demeanor drop a little bit?
Teachman: It’s been a while. The last time I fully celebrated […] was my sophomore year in high school when I just threw a huge PR [personal record], and I jumped up and down in joy. I’m looking to have another good throw later this season at regionals, hopefully, where I can celebrate as well.
Q: Where do you get your motivation? Who, or what, inspires you?
Teachman: It mostly comes from my family. I get a lot of motivation from my older brother. He excels academically, and I try to work as hard as he does and put that into my athletics. But I also get a lot of motivation from my parents. They’ve always motivated me to try my best with everything I do and just be the best I can be.
Q: Speaking of being the best you can be, how many times have you broken the school record this year?
Teachman: So far, I’ve broken it twice, but I hope to break it again.
Q: How has training and competing at Davidson differed from your years in high school?
Teachman: The biggest difference is that in high school, we—the whole team—came together as a group, and we all warmed up together and practiced together. Here at Davidson, all the throwers practice [separately], so because of that, we’re able to bond more [as an event group] than we did in high school. And the quality of practice is higher because of that.
Q: Will you remind me how fast your mile time is? You’re fast enough to be a distance runner at some schools, right?
Teachman: I actually almost became a distance runner here. I was looking into doing both distance running and javelin, but I decided not to because you can’t excel at both. You can’t be good at both at the same time. But my mile time is 4:30.
Q: What was your favorite memory of the season?
Teachman: It’s not a grand occasion or anything, but I was injured all throughout my senior year of high school and this fall as well. So finally hearing that the injury was healed and getting to practice and knowing that I can go into the season without being worried about my back [was the highlight].
Q: Who’s your favorite redheaded athlete?
Teachman: Okay, I only know one professional, and it’s Andy Dalton, and it’s not like I really like him, he’s just the only redheaded professional athlete I know. My younger brother is [also] a redhead, and he’s a high-school athlete.
Q: What do you like to do outside of track, or what might readers be surprised to know about you?
Teachman: I don’t know if this is surprising, but I played baseball throughout high school as well. So I did cross country, track and baseball. I also play the violin. I played it from sixth grade all the way through senior year of high school.
Q: If you could only watch three movies for the rest of your life, what would they be?
Teachman: Hmm. Definitely “Interstellar,” because that one’s really entertaining and interesting. Then probably a funny, animated one. I used to really like “Megamind.” And then probably some other funny one like “Despicable Me.”
Teachman will compete in High Point University’s Dani Palooza Last Chance Meet on May 18 before throwing at the NCAA Division I Championships first round, which begins ten days later. Tune in once more on June 19-20 for the USA Track & Field U20 Championships, where Teachman hopes to secure a U20 World Championships berth and represent the United States.
