DES MOINES, Iowa -- Winning her third All-America honor wasn't the ultimate goal Saturday for Northwestern State's Trecey Rew, but her efforts while finishing 15th in the shot put at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships provided a combination of mild frustration, pride and promise.
Rew, who won the national title in the discus Wednesday, threw 52-8 3/4 sandwiched between two fouls in the first flight of the 24-woman shot put competition Saturday morning at Drake Stadium. She didn't advance among the top nine performers who earned three more throws, including shot put winner Julie Labonte of Arizona (60-1).
"Trecey just had too much energy," said Lady Demon head coach Mike Heimerman. "The 52-9 was a nasty-looking throw. She warmed up great, had two monster throws at 58 and 59 feet, but went into competition too juiced up. She was too fast going through her attempts and just wasn't successful to the level we wanted.
"We talked about it at the stadium and once she was able to watch the tape, she saw what I meant, and said, 'wow, that WAS fast.' Still, she is a repeat All-American in the shot put (finishing ninth in 2010) and that's not too shabby."
Rew's two All-America honors this week, and the one claimed Thursday by freshman Jessica Talley in the javelin, raised NSU's collection of NCAA Division I All-America awards to 64 all-time. It includes nine won by four different women, and 12 claimed by five different men and women coached by Heimerman, who is throws coach for both NSU programs.
The Demons' 4x100 meter relay team also captured honorable mention All-America recognition with its 18th-place performance Wednesday at the national meet. The entire relay team returns next season.
While Rew is done with collegiate competition, she will wear NSU colors for two more meets, which gives her a chance to extend her school record 54-11 1/2 in the shot -- and possibly her new 192-4 mark set in winning the discus on Wednesday. She will compete in the shot at an open meet hosted by Rice on Thursday, and the USA Championships are in two weeks.
"The exciting thing is she's getting it out there, in both events, at a distance that makes her a national team contender this summer and in the future," said Heimerman. "The winning throw here today was 60 feet and in warmups she was in that range. She's come through the months of figuring out how to adjust to her (injured) wrist and we're finally to the point where we can expect for her to get big marks in competition."
Two international competitions that Rew could qualify for are the Pan Am Games and World University Games. It is likely that her chances in the shot put may hinge on her performance at Rice, as the discus and shot put will be contested on the same day, three hours apart, at the USA Championships.
"She could still be throwing the disc when the shot put starts at the USAs," said Heimerman, "so that schedule isn't in our favor. We'll go to Rice Thursday and see if she can get a big mark and push that school record out where it may not be touched for a long while, if ever, and maybe that could land her on a USA team in the shot this summer."
Along with being Northwestern's first women's national champion and giving the NSU track program its third overall national title (joining the 1981 men's 4x100 relay triumph, and Brian Brown's 1990 men's high jump win), Rew claimed another distinction this week. She became the shortest-ever NCAA discus champion, standing 5-foot-5.
"We've had fun with that," said Heimerman. "But it also says just how amazing she is."
Her stay in Des Moines ended with a return visit to Drake Stadium to greet Brown, who is the meet director for the annual Drake Relays and was heavily involved in running the NCAA meet.
The resulting photo of two NSU national champions is sure to get prominent display for years to come.