John McEwen would have cherished a victory over former Olympic silver medalist Lance Deal at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships last weekend at Stanford University.

But second place in the hammer throw was no small accomplishment for the former North Medford High athlete, who was known more for his exploits in football than track while competing for the Black Tornado in the early 1990s.

McEwen, who has slowly but steadily blossomed into one of the top hammer throwers in the country, launched a lifetime best toss of 243 feet, 4 inches at the national meet, losing to the 40-year-old Deal by just 13 inches.

Deal owns the American record at 270-9 and claimed the silver medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.

"It was a little disappointing because I had been throwing 250 feet in practice," says McEwen, who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 275 pounds. "It was a winnable meet.

"But I competed well and had a good series of throws, and I beat the defending champion (Kevin McMahan). This meet shows that I’m right there with the best throwers in the country."

And at 28, McEwen is just beginning to reach his peak.

He is in the process of moving from Canton, Ohio, to Eugene in order to train with Deal and under Deal’s coach — Stewart Tohger — and to be with his younger brother, Seth, a starting defensive end on the Ducks football team. The two brothers will be rooming together in another couple of months.

The older McEwen also wants to be closer to his Medford-based mother, Winona, who was diagnosed with breast cancer three years ago.

"My family is very important to me and my heart has always been in Oregon," says McEwen, who is spending the summer in Medford. "I’ve missed it more than you can imagine."

McEwen earned a football scholarship to College of the Redwoods, a junior college in Eureka, Calif., after graduating from North Medford in 1993. He had a good enough career with the Corsairs to land another two-year football scholarship to Morningside College, a Division II school in Sioux City, Iowa.

McEwen began tinkering with the hammer at College of the Redwoods even though he didn’t have a coach.

"Everything I knew at that time I learned out of a book," he says.

McEwen managed a throw of 168 feet during his freshman year in college, then improved to 204 the following year to win the California junior college meet.

After transferring to Morningside, McEwen threw 213 feet and won two NCAA Division II national championships. He also won a national indoor title in the 35-pound weight throw with an effort of 65 feet. (The regular hammer weighs 16 pounds).

"When I was playing football I was involved with winter conditioning and spring practice and that’s where my focus was," McEwen says. "Track was a secondary sport, but after I won three national titles I realized it needed to be my main sport."

McEwen hooked up with former four-time Olympian and American record-holder Jed Logan after graduating from Morningside in 1998, and it wasn’t long before his throws skyrocketed to 242 feet in the hammer and 76 feet in the weight throw.

McEwen finished eighth at the 2000 Olympic Trials and fourth at the USA Championships last year in Eugene.

But while McEwen was developing into one of the country’s premier hammer throwers, he was struggling to make ends meet financially. He found himself working as a bouncer, as a graveyard shift clerk at Wal-Mart and finally as an employee at a drive-through convenience store in Canton.

"When you’re working out six or seven hours a day you can’t realistically hold a day job," McEwen says. "I was getting my rent and bills paid, but I lived on eggs and rice for an entire year. For 39 cents a dozen, you can make eggs go a long way and, believe me, I did."

McEwen admits there were times when he thought about retiring from track and getting a job in the business world.

"But I knew I was on the verge of doing something special and I’ve had a dream of going to the Olympics for a long time," says McEwen, adding that his ultimate goal would be to medal at the 2004 Summer Games in Athens Greece.

McEwen’s runner-up finish at the national meet last weekend earned him $3,000 and health-insurance coverage through the U.S. Olympic Committee for the following year.

He plans to go to Europe for a couple of meets in August and will then participate in the IAAF World Cup Championships Sept. 21-22 in Madrid, Spain — where he will compete against most of the best throwers in the world.

Only the winners of the USA national meet were assured berths to the World Cup, but Deal announced after the meet that he was handing his ticket to McEwen.

"Right now it’s better for American hammer throwing if I let John McEwen go and get international experience, because he’s going to be one of the next great hammer throwers in the U.S.," Deal said.

McEwen plans to keep competing for another 10 years or so, and may never take advantage of his business degree.

"I think coaching would be a good option for me, but I also want to be a fireman," he says. "I’d like to be out there helping in the community."

Needless to say, McEwen won’t have any problem lifting hoses, swinging axes, busting down doors — or throwing just about anything great distances.

Reach reporter Don Hunt at 776-4469, or e-mail dhunt@mailtribune.com