Taking the Runway with T.J. Noonan

ooking at the courses that T.J. Noonan has to take for his degree in chemical engineering with a biomedical engineering option, such as Molecular, Cellular and Tissue Engineering, Biomechanics, and Biotransport, it might leave you at a loss for words. There could easily be confusion about what the courses are, but how Noonan is able to balance that while being an athlete on the track and field team. It might also explain why he enjoys and excels at the javelin. Math and science are his areas of expertise, which corresponds nicely with physics and the movement behind the technique necessary for throwing a javelin. The senior was able to take some time to talk about his event, his time here at OU, and his unique major.

On when and how he got started in the javelin:

“In my hometown (Waltham, Mass.), a great high school coach started a youth program from ages 8-14 that was split into different groups. I started when I was eight doing every event, including the Turbojav (a mini javelin). Because I liked baseball and throwing a football, the javelin was an event that I naturally gravitated towards. And I just stuck with it, moving from the Turbojav to a 600 gram javelin. I was doing well in that and then, in high school, I went on to the 800 gram javelin and kept with it up to now.”

On what the biggest challenge in the javelin is:

“For me personally, it is the mental aspect of being able to just go at it and hit your block without worrying about any consequences. Coach Blu (Brian Blutreich, former throws coach) and Coach Boevers have both said that it's like a car wreck. You are going down full speed and then just stop and have all of your energy go through. It's making sure that I have the confidence in my body to hold up. This year I am happy with how it has gone in that I've been able to bounce back and get a PR after struggling for two years. Hopefully, I can continue to build off of that for the remaining meets.”

On the technique behind the javelin:

“It's a throwing event, but it's different because we have a runway. In that way, it's similar to a long jump or a triple jump. You start off running straight, then you draw back and try to increase acceleration with your crossovers. We have an ultimate step where you try to get your left leg out, and really hit that solid, so that all of the energy can go through your torso and into your arm. It really starts with your legs and torso. It's not all arm, like some people think. For all men's javelin throwers, the weight is 800 grams, which I think is about two pounds. It's not that heavy, but just the length of it and the proportion of the weight is what makes it difficult to throw. I remember trying to show some friends in high school and they would always hit themselves in the head or the shoulder. It's most similar to throwing a football, because your hand is sort of in a sideways position and there's a flick to it. But with that, you're leading with the elbow a bit, whereas with the javelin, you want to lead with the shoulder and then follow through over on top.”

On his greatest memory during his time at OU:

“It would be being able to get third to complete the 1-2-3 sweep for Oklahoma in the javelin last year at the Big 12 Championship with Tyler (Renton) and Garrett (Snow). Once we had three javelin throwers my freshman year, with Renton and Snow both sophomores, that was something that we talked about. To finally be able to do that was really nice.”

On what being a student-athlete at the University of Oklahoma has meant:

“It's meant a lot, especially considering I never imagined coming to OU as a kid. Just being around all of the other athletes, the facilities that we have, it just makes us better students, better people, better athletes.”

On what he likes to do outside of the javelin:

“Definitely relax. With my major and track and field, there's not a lot of time to do that. I'm also a pretty competitive person, so whether that is playing video games like Madden (football) or FIFA (soccer) or backyard games like cornhole with friends, I try to beat them. When it comes to video games, skill-wise I'm not great, but good enough to beat my friends and talk a little trash.”

On Waltham, Mass.:

“It is home. It's a pretty diverse place, which I am glad of because I am exposed to different cultures. I also bounced around from public and private schools, so I was able to experience both of those. There's a lot of nice people. We are not all grumpy like people may think we are. We are only 15 miles west of Boston, so it's definitely close if I want to go to Red Sox games.”

On what appealed to him about OU:

“I was looking at different schools trying to decide where to go. I looked at who had good coaches and Coach Blu, who was the throws coach at the time, had a really good resume and a couple of good javelin throwers. I came out on my visit and really meshed with the team. They were pretty laid back, which is how I was. They had chemical engineering with a biomedical option. I really l liked the campus and how it was all close together. I just had that gut feeling that this was the right place.”

On his major:

“They didn't have the School of Biomedical Engineering here yet (when I declared), so my major is under chemical engineering. They have three options within that: standard, biotech and biomedical, and I chose the biomedical. In high school, I was good at math and science subjects, and chemistry was one that I liked a lot. I liked biology, but not quite so much, so I chose chemical engineering as the main and would see how things played out in college. Taking some of the physiology and biology classes here made me realize that I liked that a lot more too. Then I took my technical electives, which were Transport-Biological Systems and Bioengineering Principles, when I thought that this was what I wanted to do.”

On what he wants to do with his degree:

“I'm still kind of weighing my options, seeing if I want to attend graduate school for biomedical engineering so I have that degree. Hopefully, I can get a job back home where there are a lot of biotech and biomedical companies. I want to help improve the medical industry and make people's lives better.”

QUICK FIRE:

Favorite food: Any type of pizza.

Favorite spot on campus: The top of the football stadium is pretty nice. You get a nice view of all of Norman. After running the steps of the stadium, we'll just hang out there afterwards to cool down. Other than that, it would be Headington Hall. I've had a lot of good dinners there.

Favorite class that you've taken at OU: Bioengineering Principles. It's in biomedical engineering, and it was one of my technical electives. It introduced me to the biomedical field and provided a nice overview of everything. I got to see how the body works, how the industry works and how it all ties together.