There's not a reporter or photographer alive who doesn't have a tale to tell about the hits or near misses attendant with covering high school sports, whether it be getting flattened by football players heading for the sideline, or perhaps being plunked on the noggin by a stray baseball or softball or having a basketball player fly into you attempting to save a loose ball. It all comes with the territory.

But Ryan McGeeney, a photographer with the Standard-Examiner newspaper of Provo, Utah, may have taken the concept of going to all lengths to get the picture to a ridiculous and dangerous extreme. This weekend McGeeney's right leg was pierced below the knee by a flying javelin during the state track and field championships.

McGeeney, who served seven years in the Marines, including a six-month deployment in Afghanistan, was apparently so intent on getting shots of the girls discus competition at one end of the stadium that he didn't notice a javelin flying in his direction from another end. McGeeney, who, according to officials was standing where he wasn't supposed to be (well, duh), was not seriously hurt and returned later in the day to finish shooting.

The even better news is that the athlete who launched the javelin won the title, though his total distance does not include the distance the javelin traveled to the hospital while it was lodged in McGeeney's leg.