Every week it seems a record is being broken for the UNK track and field team. At the Central Nebraska Challenge, it was the javelin throw record broken by sophomore Rylan Basart.
Basart, a southpaw, broke a record that stood for 32 years. He broke it with a toss of 212 feet and 9 inches on his first throw of the day. The previous record was 212 feet.
“I’m happy it happened at home because there were a lot more people there,” Basart said. “We knew that it was only a matter of time this year when the record would break, and we (other javelin throwers) just went out and performed and I was lucky enough to have a good win at my back.”
The record had been held previously by Basart’s uncle, Darren Grauerholz.
“He (Grauerholz) joked around with me and said ‘,Hey I still think I have that record up there,’” Basart said. “When I came up here and saw how far it was, I knew it was pretty obtainable. It’s a little extra special.”
Basart would then win the javelin again the next week at the Concordia Invitational.
Basart, a native of Stockton, Kansas, is not only a track and field athlete. During the fall, he spends his time as a kicker on the football team.
With the track team in the middle of the season, and the football team going through spring ball, it’s been interesting balancing both.
“There’s a few challenges in giving both track and football an equal amount of time,” Basart said. “But when it’s football season I focus on football and when it’s track season I focus on track. If there’s a day off from track, I’ll try to make theirs as best as possible.”
Basart had plenty of experience in that in high school, participating in the Kansas 8-man all star team for football while finishing as a state champ in the javelin as well.
Basart redshirted his freshman year with the football team.
Last season, Basart was an All-American in the javelin, finishing 11th at NCAA’s. This year, he hopes to both make it back and finish on the podium.
“I want to hit 65 meters,” Basart said. “I’m going to do my best to try and get first team All-American honors and get a trophy to bring back to Kearney.”
In total, in the 2023-24 season, the Loper track and field team has broken eight total school records with still 10 events to go this season.
