Co-valedictorian of his high school class, three-time outdoor track and field national champion, two-time Washington state Gatorade Performer of the Year in 2020 and 2022, and an alternate on the USA U20 Team in 2022 in the discus throw, first-year Jeremiah Nubbe has seemingly done it all —  but he’s not even close to being done. 

The aspiring aerospace engineering major from Rainier, Washington, is continuing his academic and athletic careers at Texas, where he is currently breaking records as a freshman. 

“I knew UT had a great engineering program, and I also wanted to pursue sports at a really high level,” Nubbe said. “I thought that Texas would be the best of both worlds.” 

Nubbe’s brother, Jesse, was his main introduction to throwing. Jesse threw discus in high school when Nubbe was in middle school, inspiring him to join the track team in seventh grade. He took off from there, throwing around 50 feet at his first meet and averaging about 120 feet at the end of the year. 

“Obviously high school isn’t the same level of academic rigor as college,” Nubbe said. “Now that I’m in college, the training aspect is becoming more of a focus. (But) that’s not to say that school is not first.”

Although the balance of student-athlete life is difficult, Nubbe views it as a positive contribution to his “college experience.” 

“I would say athletics is definitely positive,” Nubbe said. “I guess it’s kind of based on what your priorities are. My priorities are to do well in school and do a lot of athletics and try to have fun along the way. But that does make it hard to branch out and maybe have a little more fun on weekends and stuff like that. But at the end of the day, it’s kind of just what your priorities are.”

In addition to these priorities, Nubbe realizes that there are certain standards to be upheld as a Texas athlete.

“As a student-athlete at UT, you have a great responsibility to hold up the Longhorn name and UT, you know respect, honesty, all those different kinds of things,” Nubbe said. “There absolutely is pressure to be a great performer … I embrace that pressure.”

Nubbe has been making some noise after setting personal bests, breaking records and making the UT lists for both top performers and performances this season. Through all of this, Nubbe said his one constant supporter has been his mom, Heidi. 

“She’s been there from day one, obviously, but she does a lot for me from anywhere from taking me to meets, driving me down to Oregon or other states to compete and driving to practices, everything like that,” Nubbe said. “She’s just a very loving person and very supportive in every aspect. So I can’t thank her enough for what she’s done for me to become who I am. There’s no Jeremiah without my mom.”

Nubbe doesn’t believe he is a great athlete yet, but he is putting in the work to get there and believes he’s on his way.

“I think that’s what makes a great athlete … if he can make it happen when it matters the most,” Nubbe said. “I wouldn’t say I’m a great athlete, but I’m getting close and continuing to learn and grow from any experience that I have in the competition zone. Whether that’s a bad meeting or a great meet, having some takeaway so that the next meet I know I’m always taking strides forward rather than backward.”