Christina Hillman has dominated the collegiate ranks of the shot put event all season long.

The junior All-American has won the event in every collegiate competition she has competed in this season, and was the top collegiate finisher at the USA Indoor Track and Field Championships earlier this season.

When the Big 12 Championships came around, Hillman continued her trend of dominance, out-throwing the second place finisher by nearly four feet and winning her first career Big 12 Championship title.

While Hillman has shown nothing but dominance throughout the course of the season, it wasn’t always that way.

“Back in high school when I was first getting started, I didn’t even know that it was a real thing,” Hillman said. “I had no idea it could provide me all the opportunities it has provided me.”

In fact, Hillman’s entrance into the sport she has now come to love was a bit unconventional to say the least. While she had no prior track and field background, and “basically no idea the sport even existed,” Hillman was able to raise some eyebrows completely coincidentally.

“One day my gym teacher’s husband saw me throw a football, and he started talking to me about track and field and I decided I would give it a shot,” Hillman said.

However, the rest was not simply history. Hillman had her fair share of struggles before reaching the point in her career she is currently at. Her first official throw in a competition only went 28 feet, a distance that Hillman can now beat by nearly 30 feet.

After honing her craft, Hillman went on to win seven Delaware state championships in her high school career before arriving in Ames.

Her sophomore year at Iowa State is when Hillman really began to take off.

Hillman threw her way to a second place finish at the Big 12 Indoor Championships, and then again took second place at the NCAA Indoor Championships in the shot put event, both times falling short to Tia Brooks, a senior stand out from Oklahoma University.

With Brooks out of the picture due to graduation, Hillman set her sights on a Big 12 and NCAA title this season.

“I knew with [Brooks] gone, the field would be wide open this year,” Hillman said. “It really motivated me this season, knowing that that opportunity is there for me.”

After checking off a Big 12 title already, Hillman’s focus has moved onto to the NCAA meet.

Hillman has been the favorite throughout most of the indoor season, as she was ranked No. 1 in the nation in the event for the majority of the year. Now, for the first time this season, Hillman will enter a college field as an underdog.

At the SEC conference championship, Kearsten Peoples of Missouri took over the No. 1 ranking with a throw of 58’05.25”, just over Hillman’s top throw this season of 57’5.5”, sliding her back into the No. 2 ranking.

While Hillman is coming in as an underdog for the first time, she remains confident in her abilities to compete for a national title.

“I’m nervous and excited, I just want to go out there and perform,” Hillman said. “I know my strength levels are there, and I have the potential to throw further, it’s just a matter of technique and executing.”

Hillman’s fellow teammate and fellow thrower Anna Holtermann said they’re all rooting for Hillman to have a big weekend.

“Obviously, we are all hoping she goes out there and throws like we know she can,” Holtermann said. “We know what she is capable of and she has worked so hard all year … we’re really hoping she’ll be able to come home with a national championship.”