Women's Track & Field | May 24, 2018

"I was so excited. I am the last person to make it and I've only been doing this for a year, maybe a year and a half."

She did make it in. Audrey Oswalt qualified for the NCAA East Preliminary Track and Field Championships in the javelin. And she was the last person in, the 48th of 48.  She also got in ahead of the 49th athlete by two centimeters. How did this all happen? You have to go back to 2016.

Oswalt transferred to Western Michigan to play basketball, joining WMU's women's team for the 2016-17 season after spending two years at Kalamazoo Valley College. Oswalt, a native of Fulton, Mich., played in just two games. The two-sport athlete from Athens High School was happy she had walked on and had a great experience, but something was missing.

"I really missed track," the junior said. "I had a friend, Jordan Anderson, we were rivals in high school."

Anderson, a senior at the time, was a key part to the WMU track and field team.

"She told me that coach (Kelly Lycan) loved walk-ons and I figured I would give it a try."

Oswalt was a runner and a thrower in high school and head coach Kelly Lycan turned her over to assistant coach Pat Tracy, who works with WMU's throwers.

"She's a really good athlete," said Tracy on his first impressions of Oswalt. "You always ask the kids what they do in high school sports. She says softball, basketball and I'm like 'this can work.' At a past school we had a basketball player that was a school record holder, and softball usually translates pretty well."

Oswalt joined the team at the beginning of the 2017 outdoor season.

"It was nerve-racking," Oswalt said. "It was a complete change from the basketball atmosphere. The team dynamic is a lot different with so many girls."

Tracy had her work on the javelin and discus, while also competing in the pole vault. She hit 30 meters in the javelin during a practice and he quickly moved her to focus on just the javelin. She steadily progressed and ended up qualifying for the 2017 Mid-American Conference Outdoor Championships. She threw a personal-best of 109' 10" (33.49 meters) and ended up taking 15th.

Oswalt continued to improve during the summer and then threw over 36 meters during the first practice in the fall, impressing her coach. After making it to the MAC Championship last season she set two goals for herself for 2018: throw over 40 meters and qualify again for MAC's. First, she had to survive the indoor season.

"It's very hard and it's very tedious," explained Oswalt.

There is no javelin during the indoor season and she can't exactly throw a javelin inside of Read Fieldhouse during practice.

"You just want to be able to throw, but you can't," said Oswalt. "You just have to train through it. I focused on my goals, for sure. All season I knew I wanted to go to MAC's again."

When the outdoor season started, it didn't take long for the personal-bests to start. In the second meet she threw 116' 11" (35.63 meters) at the Gibson Invitational. She nearly matched at Ohio State's Jesse Owens Track Classic, throwing 113' 5" (34.56 meters). Then came the Hillsdale Relays.

"We get to Hillsdale," recalls Tracy. "I'm talking grass runway and it's a heavy tail wind that will push the javelin a little bit. She hits 41 (meters). She starts tearing up a little bit and it's one of those cool moments where the athlete sees their potential and actually hits their goal."

Oswalt hit both of her goals with that throw of 135' 2" (41.21 meters). She got past 40 and she automatically qualified for the MAC Championship. She needed a new goal and she came up with one: score at the MAC Championship.

She needed to finish in the top eight to score. The eighth place distance at the 2017 MAC Championship was 127' 5" (38.83 meters), which was well within reach based on her previous performances. The javelin is on the first day, Thursday, of the three-day long extravaganza.

Oswalt's first throw is a foul. With her second throw she reaches 139' 1" (42.39 meters), a new personal best. That PR lasted only until her fourth throw and she beat that by over two feet, throwing 141' 9" (43.22 meters). At this point, scoring was pretty much assured. Then came her final throw. Oswalt launched the javelin to another PR distance, this time at 147' 7" (44.98 meters). She was in the lead with one thrower left, Vanessa Vodan from Kent State. Vodan bested her, but Oswalt took second place and was named Second Team All-MAC. The best finish by a Bronco in the javelin since All-American Jamie Strieter won the MAC title in 1996.

"It was really crazy," said Oswalt on the thoughts running through her head while standing on the podium. "I was like, you've got to be kidding me. I worked really hard on this."

Afterward she had to wait to see if she made the cut for the NCAA East Preliminaries, and going into the declaration date she was 49th. As it does in pretty much every event, athletes drop out to focus on other events. One athlete dropped out of the javelin, freeing up the spot for Oswalt.

"I'm really excited," concluded Oswalt. "I'm the underdog, so no one is really expecting me to do well. Who knows, I could go and throw 50 meters."

Oswalt gets her chance on Thursday at 1:30 p.m. If she makes the top 24 she advances to the NCAA Championships. But she's not alone. Also representing Western Michigan will be Erin Dowd in the 400-meter hurdles at 1 p.m., Gabrielle Collins in the long jump at 3:30 p.m. and Sarah Anderson in the 800-meter run at 4:35 p.m. All times have been moved up due to inclement weather.