Janee Kassanavoid Lawson Hammer Throw
Janee' Kassanavoid was an All-State thrower for the Lawson Cardinals in high school. It's been a winding journey for Kassanavoid to her first global championship. Kassanavoid, who is of indigenous decent, Comanche.
Kassanavoid was good, but not great in high school. She qualified seven out of eight times for the state meet in the shot put and discus. She earned four All-State medals from Top-8 finishes. She finished high schools with PRs of 133-6'' and 39-6.5''
Kassanavoid crossed the Missouri River and border to compete in college at Johnson County Community College. In her one year at Johnson County, Kassanavoid took 2nd indoors in the weight throw at the National Junior College Athletics Association Championships. Outdoors, she won the NJCAA title with a best toss of 53.37m/175-1''.
Kassanavoid transferred to Kansas State University, where she incrementally improved in her specialties, the weight throw and hammer throw. She just missed a top-8 NCAA trophy at the 2016 NCAA Championships, with a new PR of 61.46m/201-8''. She followed up with another near miss, taking 9th in the weight throw at the 2017 NCAA Indoor meet.
In early April of 2017, Kassanavoid set a new best of 66.97m/219-9 then two weeks later won the prestigious Drake Relays, to earn a white champions flag. She followed that up with the Big 12 title. At NCAA's she nearly equaled her PR and after a couple of close calls, earned her NCAA All-American trophy with a 4th-place finish. At the USA Championships, Kassanavoid placed 14th, with one outdoor season of college eligibility remaining.
In 2018, she successfully defended her Big 12 title with a PR of 68.21m/223-9''. She was 2nd at the NCAA West Preliminary Championships before her final NCAA meet, where she placed 14th. She capped her college career with a 15th place USA finish.
In her first post-collegiate year, Kassanavoid followed her coach Greg Watson to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She improved her PR to 73m/239-6''. At USAs in Des Moines, IA. Kassanavoid placed 5th behind Missouri greats DeAnna Price and Gwen Berry, as well as Brooke Anderson and Maggie Ewen. The finish earned her a place on her first US Team. Kassanavoid earned a spot on the US squad for "The Match", Europe versus USA in Minsk, Belarus. Kassanavoid placed 4th in her first international competition.
In 2021, Kassanavoid improved her PR to 75.50m/247-8'' and secure her place among the best in the world. The Olympic Trials at the new Hayward Field saw her finish 4th, just three inches or one spot out of making the Olympic team. Instead, she had to watch Missourians DeAnna Price and Gwen Berry, along with Brooke Anderson compete in Tokyo from afar.
That 4th-place finish motivated Kassanavoid. She followed Coach Watson back to K-State and Manhattan. She won her first USA title in February at the USA Indoor Championships, taking the weight throw title. Her 2nd Team USA berth would have to wait though, as the weight throw isn't around the world, almost exclusively in the U.S. So, a World Indoor Championships berth in March wasn't an option.
In early May, Janee' competed in Kenya, taking 2nd with a 76-plus meter toss. Then in Arizona in mid-May at the USATF Throws Fest, Kassanavoid went long. 78-meters long. Janee' came out on top of a strong field, throwing 78-meters/255-11''. The mark moved Kassanavoid past Gwen Berry into 3rd on the All-Time U.S. list and 6th on the World All-Time list.
Kassanavoid had secured a Nike sponsorship and went into USAs as one of the favorites, behind only Brooke Anderson on the world performance list on the season. At USAs, Kassanavoid had a 2nd round toss of 75.59m/248' to put her second. No one else came close after that. Janee improved to 76.04m/249-6'' which easily held up, as she finished 3rd, by more than 2-meters and 7-feet.
While some athletes like Brandon Miller and Chris Nilsen can be elite from middle school and high school in some events, phenoms like them most often show up in events that are more commonly and easily held with less equipment and are much less dangerous than the hammer throw. Most athletes competing in the hammer throw at the Olympics or World Championships were good athletes in other disciplines before taking up the hammer throw in college.
Kassanavoid has stayed the course and continued to get better and better. In Eugene, she'll try to do what DeAnna Price accomplished for the first time ever, medal in the event at a global championship as an American woman. Price won the 2019 title in late September of 2019. An ankle injury kept Price from contending for an Olympic medal last year in Tokyo and she has scratched out of the this year's meet after placing 4th at USA's, but had earned a berth with her 2019 world title.
Kassanavoid will represent Missouri and the Comanche people in Oregon.