Buchanan has been tremendous this season, winning the weight throw in all three competitions he’s been in. PHOTO CREDIT: gorhody.com
When Johnathan Buchanan began his collegiate career at the University of Rhode Island in 2018, he was a walk-on with a slim chance of sticking with the team.
Now, he’s one of the most decorated athletes the school’s track and field program has ever seen.
For Buchanan, however, finding success in meets was never a given. In fact, there was a time when pursuing track and field itself was up in the air.
“Growing up, I was a big football player,” he said. “My athletic director in high school [Robert Palazzo] – I went to Classical High School – he always told me to come do track.”
In his sophomore year, Buchanan began to take track and field more seriously. At the end of his high school career, Buchanan was a team captain and earned All-State and All-Class honors.
Thinking back to those days, he said there was one moment that continues to motivate him today.
“The biggest thing I’ll never forget is my high school coach saying the potential that I have was there,” Buchanan said. “That kind of always just kept me motivated.”
With no scholarship offers, the Cranston native chose to stay in-state and attend URI with the intent of walking onto the track team. Right away, he redshirted his freshman year and was eventually cut from the team during the spring season due to event group limits.
Despite being let go, he still caught the attention of the coaching staff. Ben Carroll, the team’s throwing coach, took notice of his passion and work ethic.
“He came in, he loved the event, he worked hard,” Carroll said. “I think he’s mostly understood that he could be pretty good if he put in the time and the effort.”
Not wanting to “let the opportunity go to waste,” he returned for his sophomore year and quickly saw improvements, eventually finishing third in the hammer throw (54.80 meters) at the 2019 A-10 Outdoor Championship. In addition, he was named to the A-10 All-Rookie teams for both the indoor and outdoor season.
In his junior year, he continued to improve his numbers, but it was short-lived due to the COVID-19 pandemic abruptly ending URI’s season.
Shortly after the onset of the pandemic, Buchanan, along with the rest of his household, all contracted the virus. Now in isolation, his throwing career was at a standstill.
“I had to literally stay in my house for a month straight,” he said. “By the time that happened, I was very rusty and I couldn’t really get coached.”
With access to gyms and weight rooms being virtually impossible, Buchanan was very limited in his training that summer. Heading into the 2020-21 season, a lot of uncertainty remained. The team did go onto win the New England Outdoor Championships that spring, but Buchanan still felt that he had a lot more work to do individually.
This season, Buchanan began to see progress, winning the weight throw in the first meet of the season. With a renewed sense of confidence, he went home to train during winter break.
However, to his dismay, he tested positive for COVID for the second time. After a short pause, he came back, still feeling the effects of the virus.
“It was a lot, but I was able to put some last minute pieces together,” Buchanan said. “It really changed the whole trajectory of how everything is going right now.”
Fortune quickly turned in Buchanan’s favor once he returned to the throwing circle. On Jan. 15, he won A-10 Performer of the Week after achieving the program’s second-best mark at 20.28 meters in the weight throw.
“I’ve only hit that in practice, like, once,” he said. “That really kind of just set the whole expectation.”
Seven days later, he furthered his personal best to 20.31 meters. Not only did he best his previous mark, but the distance was the team’s best since 1985. The effort was also enough to net him his second straight weekly conference award.
“He went from just liking the event and just being okay at it, to now, I think he really loves it,” Carroll said. “He’s excelling and it’s showing.”
While there are still a number of meets remaining on the schedule this season, Buchanan’s accomplishments have earned him a spot in the URI history books – unthinkable for someone who was just a walk-on.
“I was just a walk-on, not even recruited, not even taking track seriously,” he said. “All of a sudden, number one in URI history. That’s a story to tell.”