Christina Hillman’s ascent to becoming a two-time national champion in the shot put began not on a track but on a middle school playground.

Christina grew up in Magnolia, Del., and attended St. Thomas More Academy, a tiny school with about 200 students. She was one of only six members on the track team.

She may have never even thrown the shot put, but when she was in eighth grade, her gym teacher saw her throwing a football upwards of 40 yards in the school yard and had an idea.

The teacher called her husband, Dr. Adam Maday, a former collegiate hammer thrower who attended school with current ISU throwing coach Fletcher Brooks.

Maday came down and watched Christina on the field. He then approached her father, John Hillman, with the notion that she had the potential to be a great track athlete.

John said that was where Christina’s journey really began.

Three years and a handful of Youtube instructional videos later, Christina, a standout basketball and volleyball player, had a personal best throw in the shot put of roughly 39 feet.

The ISU throwing coach at the time, Grant Wall, was in northern Delaware scouting a thrower for Iowa State at a gym run by Pennsylvania Hall of Fame track and field coach Barry Swanson.

John said he is unsure to this day who recommended that Wall look into his daughter, but Christina’s name was brought up that day in the gym. John received a call from Wall saying he was interested in a scouting visit.

Wall came down to Magnolia to catch one of Christina’s volleyball games and have dinner with the family. John said that while Wall was impressed by Christina’s athleticism, the number of 39 feet was too low to even merit being a walk-on at Iowa State.

John thanked Wall for his time and mentioned that he had some videos of Christina throwing, which he had posted on Facebook if Wall was interested.

Wall said he was, so John added him. About an hour later, John received another phone call.

“I asked him if he liked what he saw,” John said. “He said, ‘Oh no, it was horrible, but if she can throw that far with that horrible of form, there might be something there.'”

Christina went on a visit to the ISU campus in November 2010. John said she came back enamored with the school as well as with a scholarship offer to pay for around 80 percent of her college fees.

“In the summer of 2010, Coach Wall committed to her,” John said. “He believed in her and that was all she needed.”

With shot putting Hillman’s new primary focus, John convinced the high school to allow him to create an indoor track team. Only two students came out, Christina and another thrower, and John coached the two as a volunteer.

In her first meet, Christina threw only 36 feet. In her second meet, she found the same result. John then called Wall at Iowa State seeking guidance as to how to help Christina reach her full potential.

Wall referred the Hillmans to Swanson, the proprietor of the gym where Wall first heard Hillman’s name.

“I saw a girl who was 6 feet 2.5 inches with long arms and no clue how to throw a shot put,” Swanson said of the first time he saw Hillman. “I knew there was something that could be done there.”

Both Christina and John said meeting Swanson was key to her finding her way to two consecutive NCAA titles.

“Christina spent three hours with him and learned more about throwing than she had in three years,” John said.

Hillman worked with Swanson on only two more occasions before the Delaware indoor state championship meet, but it was enough.

“To go to the national meet, she needed to throw 41 feet flat,” John said. “On the last throw of her high school career, she threw 41 feet 4 inches and qualified for indoor nationals.”

John said Hillman worked with Swanson 11 more times in the month between the state meet and the national meet. Christina entered nationals in the bottom heat, ranked 23rd out of 24 throwers.

On Christina’s first throw at the national high school championships, with only 14 sessions of work with Swanson under her belt, she threw 47 feet 4 inches in the prelims and sat in second place headed into the finals. John said his family’s jaws dropped.

On Christina’s final throw of the championship round, she flung the shot put 48 feet 10 inches to win the national title. No thrower in history had ever come out of the bottom heat to place top three until Hillman came from nowhere to win it all.

“It was a surprise,” Swanson said. “You get certain kids who are athletic and explosive, but when you try to get them to change their technique … 95 percent of those kids can’t do that. Christina can.”

Swanson said Christina’s ability to perform under pressure combined with her ability to take a concept and apply it physically is what has allowed her rapid ascension to the top of the collegiate shot putting world.

Christina showed that mettle again on June 14 when she claimed her most recent national title on her final throw of the NCAA Championship in Eugene, Ore.

“At the beginning of the week, I was kind of worried because I had injured my upper back,” Christina said. “I seemed to get better just in time for the event, but I had not really practiced at all that week.”

Christina said that despite the setbacks, her experience and focus on the technical and mental aspects of the event were what carried her through.

“After the first two throws [of the finals], I was in second,” Christina said. “It was my last throw that I finally put it together. It was very nerve-wracking, but I was able to pass first place by about eight inches. I really wanted that throw.”

With two years left of collegiate eligibility and two national titles already, Christina said she has nowhere to go but up, which is exactly where she has her sights set.

“I am definitely aiming for more national championships,” Christina said. “I think I have a lot of room to grow and I don’t think I have reached my ceiling at all.”

Christina also mentioned pushing for the NCAA shot put record, 62 feet 3.75 inches, which is roughly four feet farther than the mark she threw at nationals, which she said was the third best throw of her still young career.

Swanson said he believes if Christina threw perfectly right now, she could eclipse 64 feet.

Christina also said she hopes to one day be an Olympian. Swanson said those goals are not only realistic but probable.

“She has got the leverage to do it, a high percentage of fast-twitch muscle fiber, a great competitive attitude and she has no problem working hard,” Swanson said. “I hope she lets me be involved and lets me help her reach that potential. She is my trip to the Olympics some day.”

Swanson went on to say that Christina has barely scratched the surface of what she is capable of because, as far as proper training goes, she is “still a baby” with less experience than most of her peers.

Swanson added that Christina is the best thrower he has coached in 30 years and the only thrower under his tutelage that he has ever believed has the potential to one day become the best in the world.

“I’m always hungry. I think winning national championships only makes me hungrier. I am never content because I know I can do better and that is exciting to me,” Christina said. “For me, the Olympics is my dream and these championships are just another thing off my bucket list. It’s a confidence booster … and it lets me know that the Olympics are not a crazy dream to have.”