UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN (UNL)
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| Oregon. I'm not really blond |
What a surreal experience UNL was. It was
overwhelming at first. A school of 30,000+. My class sizes went up by
the 100's. I often wanted to pinch myself to see if I was dreaming. We
had experts for all athletic and academic aspects - many track coaches
including my javelin coach, numerous lifting coaches, a nutritionist, a
psychologist, academic counselors, athletic trainers, tutors, a coach to
wipe my butt. It was insane. They had high tech machines for every
exercise you can think of, and body pods to measure the precise amount
of fat on my ass. I spent a month figuring out all the machines in the
weight room only to do free weights later anyway. The training room had
jacuzzis, stem machines (aka. electrocution machines), ultrasound,
million dollar rehab machines, robot maids that brought us creatine and
recovery mixes. Ok so not really robots but there was a supplement area.
We had our own healthy cafeteria, we got tons of Adidas gear and swag,
our own study area with tutors, so much more. It was heaven.
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| Cameras were horrible back then. Big XII Champ |
As far as javelin, I had a lot to learn. I really
only had about 4 months of experience as I didn't practice much until
after basketball at CAC. Basically I was a beginner with no technique. I
was just able to throw "stuff" far. It was weird at first concentrating on one sport. Don't tell my
coaches but I did a ton of intramural sports on the side and played pick
up with the women's basketball team. They also let me dabble in the
hammer throw to break up the monotony.
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| USA T&F Championships '99 - I'm in black |
After working my
tail off that pre-season, I surprised myself and my coach by launching a
throw in my first meet that ranked me 2nd in the nation, college or
pro/amateur. I ended up winning the Big 12 conference and breaking the
meet record, which I just found out yesterday still stands today. At the NCAA Championships, I had an off day but still made
the finals. I believe I got 6th? I bounced back at the USA Track and
Field Championships and placed 2nd. What an incredible experience being
on the same field while athletes like Marion Jones, Regina Jacobs,
Jackie Joyner, Maurice Green and numerous other Olympians and future
Olympians were competing.
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| NCAA Championships. Great times! |
My placing and throw qualified me to represent the US
at the Pan-American Games in Manitoba and the World University Games in
Spain. The Pan Ams are considered the Olympics of the western
hemisphere and the World U's the Olympics of Colleges. Holy cow, right?
Hard work mixed with a little natural skill really does pay off! The
experience would be another blog in itself but here are some tid bits:
- In Spain ice cubes were a luxury, the bacon still had hair on it,
and gas was $3 a liter. There are 3.79 L in a gallon, people. Do the
math you "gas is so expensive" whiners. And that was back in '99. I
can't remember how I did as I was too distracted by all the old naked
people on the beach and having fun those 10 days. I think I made finals?
Top 10? Who knows.
- At the Pan Am's in Canada, I was sick and slept the first few days;
missed the opening ceremonies even :(. Of course my event was at the
beginning of the week when I was the worst. I did the best I could with a
fever and ear infection; made the finals and got 8th I think. I
started feeling better and was able to go cheer on the other sports
teams. Probably the best time I had during was going to my Canadian
friends' dorm for some James Bond Goldeneye action on the N64 and
trading some of my USA gear for the bad ass Canadian digs, which I still
have. My favorite trade were some awesome Roots pants but they got
stolen later :(.
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| Olympic Trial Finals 2000. Announcing us. |
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| Big XII Meet. I dabbled w/the hammer. Fun to throw. |
The next year started off great. I was throwing close
to 200' in practice tests, easily past the Olympic qualifying mark. Before the season though, I was plagued with
a back injury - a stress fracture in my lower lumbar area (L4). Side
note: don't skip your abs and low back exercises, athletes, especially if you
do a lot of twisting! After tons of deliberation between my doctors and
coaches they decided to go ahead and have me throw that season. It was
excruciating. My first few meets still went well but I could barely
practice in between them because I was recovering from the last one. My
performance slowly deteriorated as the season passed but I hung in there
to get 2nd at the Big 12's, 6th at Nationals, qualified for the Olympic
trials and made it to the finals there. I think I got 8th? My first
throw of the season put me at 3rd in the nation and the top 3 at the
Olympic Trials go if they hit the qualifying mark. So I was totally bummed but
by the end of the season I was in so much pain, I didn't care. I just wanted to go
home and sleep, maybe have someone cut my left leg off. Oh, my left leg
hurt the most everywhere, down into my foot even. After throwing, it would be numb for days. They call it referred
pain. It took about a year of rehab to be 95% pain free. The next year I
was able to get a redshirt, help out with coaching, and finish my
exercise science degree. I still continued to practice and threw unattached with hopes of
continuing my career but it proved to be too much on my back that year.
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| Olympic Trials praying a huge tailwind takes it another 100' |
AND BEYOND...
I
moved back to AZ and started teaching and coaching high school in my
hometown. I got a second wind after my back healed even more and tried
to practice. I had met many of my goals except one - making it to the
Olympics. I had to keep trying, right? A little harder to keep up that
rigorous workout regimen to be at that level when you are working 10-12
hrs a day though. Oh life!
Not being able to properly
train myself left my joints vulnerable and I tore my elbow during a meet. Ok
javelin, you win. Oh but it's just throwing a stick. How can a person
get hurt THIS bad? Go and pause a javelin thrower as they are in
mid-throw and see the way the body is torqued. It takes it's toll - sprinting as hard as you can only to jam your leg into the ground to a complete stop and torque your body in ways it shouldn't be torqued to catapult this 1.5 lb stick. The elbow and shoulder
joints are almost backwards. It's seriously contortionist shit. Multiply
that by 100+ throws a day and there you go.
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| Big XII Meet |
After that I kept teaching, coaching, and working out
in general. I eventually went back to school for computer science and
landed a computer science job where I was able to compete in sports on
the base for our work team. It was a blast but then I tore my knee
during a flag football game. It was an end that gave life to a new
beginning.
To be continued in the "And So It Began..."
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