Eastern Illinois University All-American javelin thrower Ron White placed third in the nation this past weekend at the USA Track and Field Championship in Eugene, Oregon.

White’s best throw was 72.73m (238ft). The best throw by all was 85.23m, which was thrown by Breaux Greer. Second place was Tom Puskstys throw of 74.49m.

“White had recently been working out with Puskstys who came to Eastern as a guest instructor at a camp and he also worked out with him the day before the meet,” said John McInerney, Eastern’s assistant track coach.

“The top three Americans are qualified to go to the World Championship held in Edmonton, Canada in early August, but neither White or Puskstys met the distance requirement of 80m,” McInerney said.

“It was raining and the weather was crummy. This probably affected most of the athletes that were competing,” he said.

At the Eastern camp, Track Coach Tom Akers said, “Puskstys threw 250 feet and Ron threw 247, which is his second best workout throw.”

McInerney said White is not disappointed, in fact he is still “fired up” with the chance of still being able to compete at the World University games in early August in Beijing, China. He also has a chance to compete at the upcoming Goodwill games at Australia.

White redshirted this past spring after placing seventh among U.S. citizens to earn All-American honors at the 2000 NCAA Championship meet.

White is presently in Oregon along with his family that live there, McInerney said. He was planning on taking summer school in Oregon during the second four week session, but now he may be on his way to China.