Rebekah Wales shrugs her shoulders.
To her, the question of why she enjoys throwing the javelin is undefinable.
But Wales attracted those kinds of questions after the freshman emerged as one of LSU’s top javelin throwers in school history during her collegiate debut.
“It was just something to do other than sit at home,” Wales said. “I love it.”
At Louisiana Tech’s Jim Mize Invitational on March 22, the Lady Tigers’ outdoor season opener, Wales threw a personal best of 166 feet, 11 inches to take the javelin title by more than 14 feet, earning Southeastern Conference Women’s Co-Freshman of the Week honors and becoming the No. 5-ranked javelin thrower in LSU history.
The toss also shattered her previous personal best of 158-3 that she set during her senior year at West Monroe High School in 2013.
To top it off, Wales ranks No. 19 in the current NCAA women’s javelin rankings, joining rookie phenomenon Eva Vivod of Virginia Tech who is No. 1 as the only two freshmen in the top 20.
Wales’ rapid success in the javelin throw is even more surprising because in high school it was a sport that fell behind her two main focuses of basketball and softball.
“She was a pretty good basketball player and softball player and everything else in high school, so javelin was kind of a part-time thing for her,” said LSU throwing coach Derek Yush. “Coming out of high school, we’d be very happy with her taking her personal best and being consistent with that as a freshman and maybe hit one or two beyond that. … And now she’s certainly superseded that.”
Before Wales moved to Baton Rouge to compete for the Lady Tigers, the West Monroe native was a multi-sport athlete who just liked to be active and outside.
In sixth grade, Wales went out for the track and field team’s javelin spot just out of curiosity, and she was instantly a natural. 
“[Her middle school] got on the intercom one day and said they needed some girls to throw the javelin,” said Wales’s father, Andy. “She said, ‘Hey, I’ll give it a try.’ She really didn’t even have a coach; she just got out there and threw it.”
Three years later, after finishing third as a high school freshman at the LHSAA Outdoor State Championships in LSU’s Bernie Moore Track Stadium, her parents knew she had something “special.”
She had added a new skill to her repertoire and an unusual sport she was proud to be linked with. Because the javelin throw is so different from basketball and softball, Wales often found herself explaining the sport to her friends.
“I have to explain it’s a long spear,” Wales said. “If I say it’s a spear they know, ‘Oh, you’re a spear chunker.’”
Before becoming a Lady Tiger, Wales ended her high school career as a two-time Louisiana Class 5A State Champion and a two-time USATF Junior Olympics Silver Medalist.
LSU has provided Wales with many resources, which has given her opportunities to enhance her natural abilities. Prior to college, Wales had never lifted weights or had a javelin coach.
Since she began working with Yush, Wales has improved her technique and utilized LSU’s weight room. The Lady Tigers throw twice a week, while the rest of their time is devoted to refining their skills and strengthening their shoulders, Wales said.
“The success she had in high school I think was just because she’s a very good athlete and a very good competitor,” Yush said. “We’ve really had to teach her from the ground-up what the javelin was about.”
At the beginning of the season, Yush said he had goals for Wales to reach the 160-foot mark by the end of the season. By the end of her first career throw, Wales had exceeded his expectations.
The javelin throw was once just a fun way for Wales to pass the time, but now she aims for the 170-foot mark, a measurement that would likely compete for a qualifying spot at the NCAA Outdoor Championships on June 11.
“Her dream now is to one day maybe make the Olympics,” Andy said.
That achievement may seem like a mile away to Wales, as the sport used to be about just running around her middle school grounds and heaving a stick.
While her love and success with the javelin may be hard to define, the javelin is beginning to define Wales.