When most competitors rolled into Lied Recreation Center on Saturday morning for the Bill Bergan Invitational, they were probably concerned with getting in a nice warm-up, stretching out and getting into that competitive mindset.

Christina Hillman was busy finishing a grueling upper-body workout.

The Friday night before, while most other athletes were resting up for a big day of competition, Hillman was in the weight room, this time finishing up a lower-body workout.

“My workouts were my number one priority this weekend. With the cycle we’re on, it was important to stick to the training regimen,” Hillman said.

After her workouts were completed, she shifted her focus to her second priority: the meet.

Hard workouts just prior to competition are not ideal for an athlete, but ISU associate head coach Fletcher Brooks, who coaches throwers, jumpers and multi-event athletes, decided it was more important to continue with the workout regimen than sacrifice Hillman’s training.

“Christina had two weeks of really tough training, including this week, and she knew going into the Bill Bergan that we were not going to sacrifice training for this meet,” Brooks said.

As it turned out, Hillman didn’t have to sacrifice anything. After two workouts within 24 hours of the meet, Hillman went out and blew away the field with a throw of 55-3.

The throw was six feet farther than the runner-up’s best throw. Hillman has won the shot put event in all three of the meets she has thrown in so far this year.

That kind of work ethic is the reason Hillman was an All-American last season, and has some of the top throws nationally so far this season.

Hillman hasn’t been the only athlete on the ISU women’s track and field team to have standout field performances early in the season.

Another standout has been Kelly McCoy, a former multi-event athlete who now focuses solely on the high jump. The decision to have McCoy focus on a singular event appears to have been a good one in the early going.

In the first three meets of the season, McCoy has won twice and finished tied for fourth in the other.

“I definitely prefer just high-jumping now,” McCoy said. “It was kind of sad watching the pentathlon and seeing what I gave up, because I really enjoyed some of those events. But I think it has made me a lot more successful now that I only have to focus in on one event.”

Coach Brooks has noticed McCoy’s determination throughout the beginning parts of the season, and noted that she has gone as far as focusing in on eating healthier and sleeping better as ways to improve her athletic performances.

McCoy said that working with Coach Brooks has been a big part of her early season success, which includes setting personal bests in each of the first two meets, and nearly resetting it for a third time in three meets, before just clipping the bar.

“He’s really believed in us from the beginning and changed some things we did wrong right off the bat,” McCoy said. “I am so happy with him as a coach so far this season and I think that shows with me setting [personal records] twice already this year.”

Hillman and McCoy have been setting the pace in the field so far this year, with five wins in six attempts between the two of them, but that’s just the beginning for these two.

McCoy aims to continue raising her personal best throughout her senior season, while Hillman is eyeing a Big 12 Championship title.