Only seconds have ticked by since he hurled his third and final discus at the Empire 8 Outdoor Track and Field Championships on April 19, and he is already late for his call at the high jump station, some 100 yards away from the discus landing zone. Time is the enemy.

His feet tread quickly, swiftly, with purpose on the stone path between playing field three and Butterfield Stadium. His crowded schedule of six field events in today’s meet has him scurrying around the track just to make start times.

The junior captain is the team’s resident multi-event specialist. At any given time during any given meet, he could be bounding over hurdles, heaving a metal put, launching a spear, racing to gain momentum, or throwing his body up for height or out for distance. The only field events contested each week Petermann doesn’t enter himself in are the hammer throw and triple jump.

Off the track, Petermann’s life can be even more frantic. On a typical Monday, he hustles off to campus for an 8 a.m. class and two more afterward. From the classroom, it’s off to the track to squeeze in some practice. Off schedule from the rest of the team, he runs and throws unaccompanied.

From 4 to 6:30 p.m., he’s back in class playing his role as a history major. After two bites of dinner at home, he’s off to Cornell University for special pole vault training until 10 p.m. By 11 p.m., he’s tucked away in bed, setting his alarm for 6 a.m. so he can make it to work on time as a Hill Center Lifeguard.

Through all of the disorder, Petermann has shined in the 2008 outdoor season. Last weekend at the New York State Collegiate Track Conference decathlon competition in Rochester, he placed third in the state. In the April 19 Empire 8 Championship, he broke his own school record in the javelin with a throw of 60.22 meters, provisionally qualifying him for May’s NCAA Championships in Oshkosh, Wis.

He also took first in the discus with a toss of 38.59 meters. En route to an Ithaca victory, Petermann was awarded Field Athlete of the Meet and was named Empire 8 Athlete of the Week — for the third straight week. Petermann also remains undefeated in the javelin throw this season.

“It’s really insane that he’s been able to pull something like that off”, senior Kyle Miller said. “He’s contributed a lot this year.”

Roommate and junior Matt Radley, a forward on the men’s soccer team, knows first hand just how determined Petermann has been in his three seasons at Ithaca.

“He told us freshman year his goal was to break the school record in the javelin” Radley said. “He’s already achieved it in just his junior year, so he had another year to make it even harder to people to reach — setting the bar even higher.”

As a 5-foot-4-inch, 180-pound freshman at West Morris-Mendham High School in Chester, N.J., Petermann didn’t begin his athletic career with the intention of being a track phenomenon or a javelin ace.

“I played everything,” Petermann said. “Baseball, basketball, football and rugby. Frisbee, too. Soccer, even. I tried winter track just to stay in shape for baseball — then they cut me.”

With his diamond dreams over, he followed his older brother’s footsteps into throwing. Petermann’s height, however, didn’t always lend itself to a sport that favors the lanky.

“Because I was so much smaller, I really had to refine my form,” he said. “I would show up to meets, throwing against [6-foot-3-inch] monsters and I’d be throwing 45 meters right along with them. They were so baffled.”

In the seven years since, Petermann has added 10 inches to his frame and complemented it with a more refined muscle structure. However, the sound mechanics he had to learn out of necessity are what make him so effective.

“There’s the misconception in throwing that you just chuck stuff,” Petermann said. “But everything is so technical … If I stick to my form, I’ll do it well. But the moment I muscle it or try to hustle something and forget about form, I have no chance.”

Petermann’s list of accomplishments, as impressive as it is, is often overlooked at the college and in the sports community as a whole. His accolades and achievements exist in ambiguity behind more traditional sports on campus and in our culture.

“If I told someone here that someone threw 92 meters in the javelin, no one really cares,” Petermann said. “But in Europe, it’s the national sport of some countries.”

But as Petermann sets his sights on States this weekend, ECACs the next and Oshkosh in May, he isn’t concerned with how much press attention he receives or how much the campus acknowledges him.

“I just love to compete,” Petermann said. “The biggest thing for me is that I love being on this team and the camaraderie we’ve developed. My season’s not even halfway over, and I can’t wait to come back and do it all over again.”