Thomas Klekamp’s senior season with the Montgomery County boys track team got off to a blazing start on March 22.

Klekamp celebrated his first victory of his high school track career after winning the javelin by over 11 feet under rainy conditions in the season-opening Montgomery County Early Invite. He threw 129 feet, 10 inches to finish first out of 22 throwers.

“It feels pretty good,” Klekamp said. “Obviously, conditions were definitely not the best. Never throw the javelin in the rain. Other than that, it was pretty cool. Everybody had to compete under the same conditions. We basically had to stand there and throw it.”

Now, Klekamp is setting his sights on turning in another strong season in the javelin. Last year, he competed in the event at the Class 3 state meet. He also broke a school record.

“The goals are to break the school record multiple times and go back to state,” Klekamp said.

Klekamp credits his uncle, Joe Klekamp, for his memorable 2021 season in the javelin. Joe coaches the field athletes.

“It felt pretty good just to be with my uncle and celebrate it together,” Thomas Klekamp said. “He really trained me the whole way. Hopefully, we’ll go back to state again.”

Klekamp is excited that he will continue his track and field career in college. He signed a letter of intent to compete with the Maryville University track team for the 2022-23 school year on Feb. 21. Klekamp will join his MCHS teammate, senior Dawson McCown, at the St. Louis school.

“I was looking at a bunch of schools for football, but I decided overall that going to Maryville was the best for me,” Klekamp said.

Klekamp enjoyed a solid football season last fall. He was named to the Missouri Football Coaches Association Class 2 all-state team after recording a team-high 87 tackles with an interception and a fumble recovery.

Klekamp, who is in his third season with the MCHS track team, started competing in the javelin last year. The senior said his uncle influenced him to try out for the event.

“I started from scratch,” said Klekamp, who also participated in relay and sprinting events during his track career. “Uncle Joe and I spent a lot of time from conference to state just working on footwork and nailing that. Eventually, I was able to make it to state and break the school record.”

Seven years ago, the javelin – a two-pound spear – returned to Missouri high school track meets for the first time in nearly 80 years. Klekamp said there’s a simple skill in throwing the javelin.

“You just have to memorize the footwork,” Klekamp said. “It takes a lot of time to memorize that footwork to get that down and work on arm placement and angles. Other than that, you kind of just throw it.”

Klekamp finished in the top four in the javelin five times in 2021. He qualified for state in the javelin by finishing second in a school-record 151 feet, 3.75 inches at the Class 3 sectional meet at MCHS. His throw surpassed the old mark of 149-8 that was set by Chris Harrison in 2018.

Klekamp finished 12th with a 149-7 at the state meet. He said even though he didn’t get a medal, he was thrilled that he got to go to Jefferson City for the first time.

“It was awesome,” Klekamp said. “It was definitely the coolest track meet I have ever been part of. It was a wild atmosphere. I was upset that I didn’t come out with a medal. That’s the goal this year. I want a medal at state.”

Klekamp broke his own school record in the javelin at the Bowling Green Mini-Medal Meet on April 5, throwing a 153-10.  He finished second.