New jav record holder Steeley Mucken talks injuries, personal growth and his epiphany at FairWell Festival

Steeley Mucken. Photo courtesy of Steeley Mucken, taken by Willamette Department of Athletics.

On April 5 at the Linfield Jenn Boyman Memorial Invitational in McMinnville, Steeley Mucken (ʼ27) broke the Willamette record in javelin with a throw of 65.50 meters — a record that had held for over a decade, having last been set in 2014 at 65.41 meters. 

His throw placed him first in the Northwest Conference and — as of April 7 — fourth place overall for NCAA Division III. This season, Mucken also came within sight of Willamette’s 100-meter dash record when he ran a time just 0.09 seconds short of the top spot at the Willamette Opener in Salem on March 1. But the road has been far from easy for Mucken, with trials, tribulations and hamstring injuries abounding for the big man. Three days before his record-breaking javelin toss, The Collegian got to sit down with him to hear about his winding path to the top. 

Question: Did you quit [Willamette’s track and field team] last year?

Mucken: Yes, that is true. I did resign last year. I turned in my gear.

Question: Walk me through what happened.

Mucken: I had, I would say, a poor attitude going into [the track season]. I got injured and then I didn’t go into the training room. I didn’t go see Ken [Smith, Willamette’s assistant athletics director, sports medicine]. He still gives me a lot of crap about that all the time. I was in a rush to qualify for conference and I started running before I was ready. [Then] I strained my hamstring and just threw in the towel. I was like, “This isn’t for me.” And then, over the summer, I had a really cool experience at a concert. [I was] just standing kinda in the middle of the crowd. The [concert] had a camera that panned back and forth and it just stopped on me. I saw myself a shoulder above everyone else.

This is weird, but then I kind of just reflected on [that image]. Track and field emphasizes a lot of physical talent, so I just saw myself in a crowd of people and I was like, ”Man, I really gotta do something with this talent. I gotta do it for me.” I think last year I was doing [track] because everyone told me to do it. When I came back [to school], I really thought about it and [decided I had to get back on the team]. And [the coaches] were gracious enough to let me come back on the condition that I’d do the decathlon, which I’ve come to love.

Question: When you say you were playing last year for other people or because other people were telling you to, what do you mean by that?

Mucken: I was doing it only for my family, because they were supporting me — and I still do it for my family, [I still want them] to be proud of me — but a lot of [the reason I did track last year] was just that I just want my family to be proud of me. This year, I’m just proud of myself and how far I’ve come. And I still do it for my family and all my friends, just ‘cause they’re supportive of me, but at the end of the day, I’m doing it for myself because I love it. My family being proud of me is just an added bonus. 

Question: What was the day that you quit like? What led up to it?

Mucken: It was the week after I’d torn [my hamstring] again. I just showed up and gave my coaches all the gear — my uniform and warm up gear. I was like, “I’m done doing this.” It was very awkward, it was very uncomfortable, but afterwards I felt very free. I could do whatever I wanted to; I didn’t have to go to practice every day. And I could do the exercises I wanted to do. And I can’t say that I fully regret [quitting]. I think that, all due respect to my coaches, I did a lot of personal growth in that period where I was not on the team that… made it possible for me to come back to the team. I don’t think that would have been possible had I just stayed on the team and kept showing up to practice and doing all the things they told me to do. It would’ve just created more resentment for the program. I think that quitting, as much as they’ll disagree with me, was a positive thing. 

Question: So, just regarding the change between who you are now versus your freshman year, in terms of track and field, what were your goals going into your collegiate career?

Mucken: I mean, I just wanted to get better. I wanted to run faster, throw farther, jump higher and farther, all of that. I didn’t think that when I graduated high school I was where I could go as far as physical talent, and I just wanted to work harder. I wasn’t gonna stop working out after high school, and I really wanted to do something more with it and just invest in myself and work hard to get better. 

Question: What about coming off that break going into this season?

Mucken: I wanted to qualify for nationals. I knew I had a shot winning nationals at the decathlon. Just overall improvement in all events. So my goal for this season — I don’t really do things in terms of goals. I just do things because I enjoy them. Or, winning. I think my goal is to win. 

Question: And then you recently got reinjured. Was it a hamstring strain?

Mucken: Yeah, I was just doing the long jump and I was like, “Oh, that hurts.” I was very upset for a while because I had told my coaches that I didn’t think I should compete that day, and they got upset and told me to “be more of an athlete.” So, I went in and competed and sure enough, I hurt myself. But this time, instead of quitting, I listened to them and went to the athletic training room and recovered very fast. 

Question: What does that injury mean for the rest of your season? Do you anticipate it affecting you, or is it just the recovery period and then you’re [cleared]?

Mucken: Well, it’s hard to say. Injuries don’t really tell you before they happen. Fingers crossed it doesn’t happen again. I don’t think I’m really gonna let it affect my season. I still want to compete at conference and help the team get some points. [Also,] I’ve qualified to go to nationals for javelin. I don’t think it’s gonna affect javelin very much.

Question: How has this persistent injury affected your mental state?

Mucken: A lot of my mood on a day-to-day basis depends on how I feel like I'm doing in sports, which can be a really good thing or a really bad thing. When I’m doing well, I’m doing really well, but when I’m doing bad, I’m doing pretty bad. I think again, it just comes back to attitude, you gotta be consistent in the things that you do so that you can have consistent results.

Question: You’re narrowing in on two school records in javelin and 100-meter dash. What do you attribute your success to in these specific areas?

Mucken: I would say I gotta attribute some of it to being in the weight room in high school and lifting weights. I think that’s where it all started, was my passion for lifting weights. I would attribute a lot of [my success] to being strong. There’s a lot of technical factors [in track and field], and in that I would give credit to my coach Mitch [Kruse]: he’s a great teacher, a great mentor, he’s a great leader of the team. All the technical progress I’ve made is because of him and my throwing coach Soren [Sorensen].

Question: How are you feeling going into the conference meet?

Mucken: I want to win a couple events. That’s wishful thinking. But you never know how it’s gonna go. I really want to beat George Fox and the bigger schools that for a long time have just beaten us in everything. I think I can contribute a lot to that because I have a diverse set of events that I’ve been pretty good at. If I can get up there in a few, that would contribute a lot.

Northwest Conference Championships for track and field occurred April 26-27 at Lewis & Clark in Portland. Mucken did not compete at the NWC Multi Championships on April 14-15.