After a runner-up finish in the shot put event at the NCAA Indoor Championships a season ago, Christina Hillman set her sights even higher this season.

With the reigning champion, Tia Brooks of Oklahoma, moving on after graduation, Hillman knew that this year’s NCAA field would be “wide open.”

Hillman came into this year’s indoor season on a mission. She ripped through the first few meets, placing first in each one, most of the time fighting soreness and fatigue from her rigorous workout regimen.

ISU associate head coach Fletcher Brooks had put Hillman on a workout routine that often had her going through tough workouts the day before a meet and on at least one occasion, the morning of a meet.

The duo had decided that maintaining her training schedule was more important than certain meets. It was all part of a process to ensure that Hillman was peaking around the Big 12 and NCAA Championship meets.

Still, Hillman ripped through the first part of the season with first place finish after first place finish.

“It wasn’t always the highest level of competition like I faced toward the end of the year, and my marks weren’t really as high as I would have liked them to be,” Hillman said. “I think it really helped with my confidence levels though, and obviously all the training that went on in those weeks helped me out down the road.”

Hillman earned the No. 1 ranking in the shot put early in the season, and would hold that ranking until the various conference championship meets happened. Hillman threw her way to a Big 12 title; Kearsten Peoples of Missouri overtook the number one ranking en route to a victory in the SEC Championship.

After slipping to the No. 2 ranking down the final stretch of the indoor season and after holding the No. 1 ranking for much of the year, Hillman looked to regain the top spot on the biggest stage, the NCAA Indoor Championships.

Peoples would prove not to be Hillman’s biggest competition at the meet, however, as she finished in third. Instead, Hillman’s toughest competition was Valentina Muzaric of Auburn.

Early on in the competition, Muzaric unleashed a monster throw — two feet further than her own previous personal best — to set the bar and take the lead in the meet.

“My first thought was game on,” Hillman said. “I love that feeling and kind of that pressure.”

On Hillman’s second throw, she delivered. Hillman unleashed a huge throw of her own, throwing 59-6 3/4. That was a full foot and a half above her previous personal best, and enough to take the lead.

That lead would hold throughout the rest of competition, and Hillman ended up on top of the podium with her first career NCAA Indoor Championship title, and reclaiming that No. 1 ranking she had held throughout much of the season.

“I can’t even describe the feeling,” Hillman said of winning a national title. “The look on my face was probably pretty embarrassing.”

Still, Hillman, who is only a junior, feels like the best is yet to come.

“I feel like I can do more,” Hillman said. “I know I have strength gains to make still, and most of my issues this season were technique issues that coach Brooks and I are still working on.”

That could be a scary thought for the rest of the NCAA. Hillman cruised through the entire indoor season slate, without once losing to a fellow NCAA competitor. Hillman won every meet she entered, except for the USA Indoor meet, which featured a number of professional athletes.

Still, Hillman took sixth place at the USA Indoors, and was the top collegiate finisher in the event.

So, where does Hillman go from here after winning both the Big 12 and NCAA titles and not losing to a college athlete in the shot put all year?

“Well, I have a week off, and then we start looking ahead towards the outdoor season,” Hillman said. “Primarily, I’ll be focused on USA Outdoors, and then of course the Big 12 and NCAA Outdoor Championships meets as well.”