Photo: Gaston High’s Kodie Bogle releases his state record-breaking throw in the javelin event during the Class 2A state track and field meet on Saturday, May 4 in Cullman. (Courtesy of Alex Chaney)
By Chris McCarthy, Publisher/Editor
“I want to set the state record [for javelin]. If anyone throws farther than me, I’m going to work a little bit harder to beat his [throw].” – Kodie Bogle, June 2023
Mission accomplished.
Gaston High junior Kodie Bogle’s javelin throw of 184-01 at the Class 2A state track and field meet on Saturday, May 4 in Cullman shattered by two feet the existing state record of Lexington’s Lane Adams set in 2014.
“It feels good that I achieved something that I set out to do,” said Bogle, who was selected as MVP of the 2023 All-Messenger Track and Field team. “I kind of knew I had [the state record] right after I threw it.”
Bogle’s gold-medal-winning throw during the first flight was 22 feet farther than the best throw of state runner-up Jimmie Sosa of Isabella (162-05).
It was Bogle’s third straight state javelin championship. He was the state runner-up in the event in 2021.
“Along with the technique, you definitely have to mentally prepared,” he said. “I really don’t feel nervous anymore; I’m always pretty confident in what I can do.”
Bogle finished second in the javelin event at the 2023 AAU Nationals in Des Moines, Iowa. His throw of 190 feet and four inches eclipsed his previous PR of 189 feet and five inches set at the American Jav Fest in East Stroudsburg, Penn., in June 2023.
In May 2023, Bogle threw for 178 feet set at the Adidas Outdoor Nationals at North Carolina A&T University. At the NSAF Nike Invitational at the University of Oregon in May of 2022, Bogle earned a silver medal in the javelin event at 166 feet and seven inches.
Kodie has an impressive athletic pedigree. Both dad Jim and mom Tonya played college basketball, while older brothers Jordan, Jeff, Jimmy, Jared, Jackson and Jason competed in either football, basketball or track and field while at Gaston. Sisters Jana and Morgan both played basketball and volleyball in high school. Tonya was the longtime girls basketball coach at Gaston, where she led the Lady Bulldogs to the Class 2A state championship in 1987.
“The way I’ve been trying to teach him is to focus on doing his best instead of beating the other guy,” said Jim, a longtime track and field coach at Gaston and Etowah high schools. “As long as he works hard and does what he’s supposed to do, Kodie might be throwing over 200 [feet] by the time he’s a senior.”
For the past four years, Kodie has been training once a week with Curtis Thompson, a world-class javelin thrower based in Birmingham who won the U.S. Olympic trials and competed in the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Due in large part to Thompson’s coaching, Jim said Kodie’s rapid progress is just as much mental as physical.
“Instead of me or his mom or his coach telling him to get out there and practice, Kodie now does that himself,” said Jim. “It wasn’t that he wasn’t motivated before; it’s that now he understands the reasons behind his workouts. Now he trusts his technique and his training and keeps his composure as opposed to muscling through a throw
“It’s tough being the son of a coach. You could tell he didn’t like what I asked of him sometimes, but he never bucked me, and when he started seeing his improvements, he started to buy in to what we were doing. You can’t have confidence if you haven’t put in the work.”
Kodie also plays football and basketball for the Bulldogs, whom he helped reach the Class 2A Northeast Regional Tournament basketball finals this past season.
Next up on Kodie’s punchlist is breaking the overall AHSAA state javelin record of 223-08 set by Daphne’s Kyle Smith in 2008.
“I’m going to some javelin events this summer, so it depends on how hard I work at it,” said Kodie. “But I think I have a chance to [improve] by 39 feet if I put the work in.”