WSU’s Jamesia Milton feeling better about hammer throw
Not even one month ago, Jamesia Milton winced every time she moved because she was in so much pain.
The Wichita State thrower had injured herself on a shot put when she came across her body awkwardly and felt a sudden discomfort in her abdomen. An x-ray showed that she had strained the left side of her rectus abdominis, which in turn strained the right side.
Milton didn’t realize how much she used the muscles in her core until a sharp pain reminded her every time she did anything other than stand still.
“It basically felt like someone was sitting on my chest constantly,” said Milton, who couldn’t practice for a week.
Milton didn’t know if she was going to compete in the K.T. Woodman Classic until Saturday morning when she woke up and was feeling the best she has since the injury. It turns out, she was feeling really good – Milton broke the meet record in the hammer throw with a toss of 197 feet, 6 inches.
It improves her career-best throw by more than seven feet and her all-time rank at WSU to third. The significance of the throw didn’t hit her until she was tagged on Twitter informing her of what she had accomplished.
“I looked at my phone and I was like, ‘Oh wow,’ ” said Milton, a junior transfer from Cowley College. “I feel privileged. I go to Wichita State and now I have a Wichita State meet record. It’s a great feeling and now it makes me want to keep getting better and beat my own record next year.”
Wichita State coach Steve Rainbolt figured Milton would sit out the home meet after seeing her in pain on Thursday. Then he ran across Milton early Saturday and was stunned when she told him she was ready to go.
“The fact that she was coming off an injury was a major issue to me,” Rainbolt said. “We knew she had that kind of throw in her, but we just didn’t know where she was at. I’m really proud of her that she made it happen, but I’m mostly very happy because the injury is clearly a thing of the past.”
Rainbolt was concerned the injury might derail what was developing into a promising season, as Milton had thrown her two best marks in the hammer throw at the end of March.
Now the focus is on preparing for the Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Championships, which begin on May 13.
“It was very worrisome,” Rainbolt said. “But on the other hand, I’ve been down this road enough times to know that the vast majority of the time the aches and pains we’re dealing with right now will clear up in time for the conference championships.”
On Saturday, Milton hit her personal-best on the second throw in the preliminary round. She said she was doing a better job of letting the ball lead the way, but the best throw of her career did not feel like it when it was released.
“I could have sworn that I left it short,” Milton said. “I released it and I thought, ‘Oh gosh.’ Then I look out and saw it hit the 60 (meter) line. I was really surprised.”
Belardo goes big again – The ascension of Jared Belardo at Wichita State continued, as the freshman had his best day as a Shocker – and that’s saying something.
Belardo set a lifetime-best mark in the triple jump at 52 feet, 6 inches, then set an outdoor-best in the long jump at 25 feet, 4 1/2 inches to win both events at K.T. Woodman. The triple jump moves Belardo to fifth in the nation and stands as the second-best mark in WSU history.
“It’s a lot to take in,” Belardo said. “Right now I’m just trying to keep working hard and stay humble. I don’t want to let it get to my head too much. I want to see how much better I can get from here.”
This story was originally published April 16, 2016 at 9:49 PM with the headline "WSU’s Jamesia Milton feeling better about hammer throw."