He started throwing little plastic javelins in fourth grade. Now, senior Sean Mackelvie leads the Big Sky Conference in the men’s javelin with a distance of 218-02 (66.49m). Mackelvie has the chance to take home the gold medal for the Vikings in the Big Sky Championships.
He started throwing little plastic javelins in fourth grade. Now, senior Sean Mackelvie leads the Big Sky Conference in the men’s javelin with a distance of 218-02 (66.49m). Mackelvie has the chance to take home the gold medal for the Vikings in the Big Sky Championships.
“I love throwing things,” Mackelvie said. “It’s something I happen to be good at, and I just follow it.”
The engineering senior is in his fourth year, and he still has one year left of eligibility. Mackelvie started his collegiate career at Oregon State, but transferred to Portland State because Oregon State’s track and field program was still developing and PSU’s engineering program had more to offer him.
“It’s definitely a different aspect, throwing a javelin and having skyscrapers in the background,” Mackelvie said.
The transformation from studying in Corvallis to coming to Portland has been huge for Mackelvie, and a lot for things have changed for him, from his social life to what he eats.
“I didn’t care about my diet,” Mackelvie said. “I just wanted to have fun and party. And then I came here and I was making the transition between that and being an athlete, and I was mixed between the two. I’m not going to lie, I wanted to quit. It was so hard, it kicked my ass. This year I have completely changed my mindset. I have changed my whole diet and sacrificed a lot of my social life and just committed to it because I want to be successful.”
The results have been critical to the success of the men’s program this year. Mackelvie has become a force in men’s track and field in the spring, heading up the results for the men at every event and breaking school and conference records. Going into the Big Sky Championships, Mackelvie has won two consecutive Big Sky men’s Athlete of the Week awards, making him a dark horse to dominate his portion of the championships in a men’s track and field program which finished dead last in the indoor season.
“I can’t quit,” Mackelvie said. “I am never going to look back at my life and say I changed schools, left everything behind at Oregon State just to come here and quit in a couple weeks.”
As a Beaver, Mackelvie was not involved in any athletic programs, but he managed to stay in shape by playing recreational basketball. The change from that to a very structured sport in track and field completely changed the senior.
“Two years of structured changing has moved this kid into another level of athlete,” assistant coach Seth Henson said. “He is one of the fastest kids on our team. He’s got the best speed, power capabilities from top to bottom on our team. Sean’s got another year, and he’s starting to understand things technically.”
One of the biggest aspects of Mackelvie’s changes has been the Vikings’ coaching staff. Portland State doesn’t have the biggest track and field squad, which allows for more individual coaching time. All the athletes benefit from this, but Mackelvie has especially, learning all the different facets of technically sound form.
“I never knew how much was wrong with just my running form,” Mackelvie said. “You come here and think running’s not that hard. You just put one foot in front of the other. But it turns out it is [much more complex]. They have definitely transformed me into a whole new person athletically.”
Next year will be Mackelvie’s last year throwing as a Viking for Portland State. The senior is watching a lot of friends in their last year right now, and the feeling that his collegiate track and field is close to the end is a lot more real.
“I’m nervous,” Mackelvie said. “Next year’s going to be a whole new team, and it’ll be interesting to know what it feels like to have these last chances be a prominent thing.”
As far as his future, Mackelvie’s dream job involves designing shoes or cars. It may even involve track and field.
“I would definitely like to continue track as long as I can, as long as it makes sense for me to do. As far as maybe coaching, I’d like to give back to this program when I get done.”
