Emily McDowell '24 Recruiting Profile

I was a thrower at TL Hanna High School. I started throwing shotput and discus when I was in 7th grade. I would be good on a throwing team because I have great leadership skills and feel I could make a difference for the team/college. I am different from other recruits because I was already throwing varsity my 7th grade year. I received my varsity letter at the end of my 7th grade season. Sadly, my 8th grade year was cut short because of COVID-19. My 9th grade year was very eventful because COVID was still going on which meant less competitions and a lot more rules that had to be followed. I ran into a huge obstacle when I injured my shoulder while throwing discus during a meet. Even though I was hurt I still threw shotput after and probably made it worse. I went to the doctor and learned my capsule that protected my rotator cuff and shoulder blade was very inflamed. I couldn't throw for two weeks but was getting treatment everyday and still showed up for practice in case someone needed help or encouragement. A week after the doctor I started a 6 week physical therapy program to try and strengthen the muscle so that I could throw again. After the 1st week of PT, I was cleared to slowly start practicing again but was not allowed to throw shotput. I could only throw discus which really frustrated me because I am the best at shotput. This was also a good opportunity for me because I got to solely focus on discus rather than having to balance both during practice. After a few weeks of slowly getting back into practicing, I noticed I was starting to throw further and was even getting PR's. My first meet back from my injury I ended up taking 3rd in discus. I was starting to do well at other meets and ended up taking 1st in one of our last meets. Even though it was a roller coaster my 9th grade season was one of my best seasons yet. I learned that if adversity comes at me right in the face I learn to overcome it rather than run away from it. This could really help me at the college level because you will always face adversity in your life no matter what you're doing. My 10th grade year started with transferring schools because of better academic opportunities. I am now a thrower at Crescent High School.  10th grade track season was very different from previous seasons having to adjust to a new environment was very hard for me at first. I also had new opponents because of a new division and region which made things a lot more difficult in some areas. For shotput, I had a phenomenal season because I ended up PR'ing by over a foot as I went from a 26'3" to a 27'10.75".  For discus, it was a little bit of a shaky start because my shoulder was still bothering me in some ways. I ended up finishing strong with a 68'2" being my season PR which didn't top my career best of a 75'4" but still not a bad performance. I had some solid finishes on both sides this season with 2nd place in both being my highest placing of the season. This season I was also given the title of Co Captain of the throwing team which was very special to me considering it was my first year at Crescent.  I'm excited to see what next season will look like for me and the team as we start in a new divison and region.