BUTLER TWP — Jamie Rutkowski wrote the number on her left hand, just below her thumb.

The number is there when she goes to school. It's there when she goes to practice the javelin throw at the Seneca Valley High track. And it is there when she goes home to eat dinner and do her homework.

She hates to wipe it off. She always wants to be able to glance at it: 127-3.

“I walk around with it written on my hand so I can see it,” Rutkowski said. “At school, if I look down, I see it. It is ingrained in my head.”

The number represents 127 feet, 3 inches — the distance that will put her alone in second place in Seneca Valley school history in the javelin. It is a number she has come close to reaching this season as a sophomore and relative newbie in the event.

It's a number she will strive to reach Thursday at the WPIAL Class AAA Track and Field Championships at Baldwin High.

Her career best is 125-10, which would be good enough to send her to the PIAA Track and Field Championships should she reach that distance again next week.

But Rutkowski is never one to rest on her laurels.

“Every time I throw, even if it is the farthest I have thrown and my personal best, I always think I could have done a little bit better,” Rutkowski said. “I don't let myself get into the comfort zone of, ‘yes, I did it.'”

That motivation has served her well in the short time she has competed in the event.

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@Normal=[S"","Normal","Normal"]@Jump Header=[S"","","Jump_Text_Bold\:"]She began throwing the javelin last year as a freshman “just as something to do,” she said.Little did Rutkowski know then that she would show a natural ability to toss the javelin.“She got hooked on it last year,” said Seneca Valley girls track and field coach Ray Peaco. “She keeps pushing herself.”Peaco said she will only get better as her technique becomes more refined and she gets stronger as she matures and hits the weight room.“The sky is the limit,” Peaco said. “She thinks she can get the school record, and I think she can, too.”That's the next number that will be jotted down on her hand: 144-1.That's Ashley Turici's school record in the javelin. Rutkowski said she wants to one day reach 145.“She has it mapped out, right where she wants to be at any point in time,” Peaco said. “It's pretty cool.”Rutkowski, though, still finds herself in awe of what she already has been able to accomplish.She remembers her first few meets as a freshman when she felt unsure of herself.“It's amazing,” Rutkowski said. “I look back at last year and what I was thinking and doing when I was throwing the javelin and I would have never expected this. I was kind of scared to throw the jav. It was really intimidating at first.”While the school record is a goal, the short term objective is simple: Get to the state meet this season with a strong showing at Baldwin.Peaco sees no reason why Rutkowski won't reach that goal — as well as the many others she has set for herself.“She's motivated and that's half the battle,” Peaco said. “It's going to be huge if she can get to states. To get out there, see all that and soak it all in, I don't care if she throws 119. It's the experience. It's one more carrot out there. What an experience that's going to be.”