Kort Sjogren from Smoky Valley was a three-sport athlete for the Vikings, where he played football and wrestling and was a track star as a javelin thrower.
The best way that I’ve found to improve the most was devoting time to the weight room,” Sjogren said. “Throwing in track is a lot of technique, but with my lack of time spent with the sport, I had to take advantage of every other possibility to get better, and I believe that the weight room is the best resource any athlete can have.”
Sjogren went into the state track tournament ranked 11th in the javelin, but would up finishing fifth.
“My goal for the season started as: make it to state and throw 150’, and I accomplished those and more,” Sjogren said.
Sjorgren finished in the top five in the javelin in 10 of the 11 meets he competed in, including winning the Hillsboro and Halstead meets.
I started (throwing) my sophomore year and obviously Covid threw a wrench into that junior season,” Sjorgren said. “Even with just those two years though, the growth that I saw this year was very significant in all my throws, not just javelin.”
Sjogren was busy outside of sports at Smoky Valley. He was in the concert and pep band, KAY Club and was Co-President of NHS.
Next year, he will be attending Bethany College, where he will continue to throw javelin. He plans on majoring in Biology in hopes of later attending medical school for a career in Orthopedics.
