Lake County Gazette

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- It took a little bit of luck and some sweating out other results, but Southern Illinois Salukis shotput thrower Josh Freeman made his mark at the NCAA Championships, finishing sixth and earning historic All-American honors.

"I wasn't a fan of how he got into the finals (mainly because I could feel myself starting to bald from all the stress), but the important thing is that he qualified, made the finals, and then went to work from there," Freeman's events coach, J.C. Lambert, told the Lake County Gazette.

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Freeman's first toss of the event went 62 feet and 3 inches, which left him on the border of qualification for the finals as the other throwers went. However, Freeman ended up in ninth place, barely qualifying for the Finals. Once there, he cranked up his performance and saved the best for last. Freeman's final throw, 63 feet and 10.25 inches, was his farthest in his previous two months of competition, placing him fifth before the last thrower (Chukwuebuka Enekwechi of Purdue) outscored him and moved him down to sixth.

Freeman also earned All-American honors, which set two program marks. He's only the second Saluki to earn Outdoor All-American honors for shotput in consecutive seasons, Jeneva McCall being the other. It was also his fifth All-American selection, which tied the mark set by his coach, Lambert.

"It was great to see Josh tie my record of five All-American awards. It only means the program continues to get better. I hope to someday see a male thrower out-do both of us with more than five All American Awards," Lambert said.

Freeman was a two-time USA Track and Field All-American, three-time all-conference selection and three-time all-county selection in his high school track career, and still holds the Cary-Grove High School records in both shotput and discus. In fact, a shotput throw of 66 feet, 0 inches by him is third in Illinois high school history. He was a two-sport athlete, winning a state championship in football in 2009.

Freeman's accomplishments continued at the college level, and right from the start. Freeman won eight shot-put titles across the indoor and outdoor track seasons as a freshman, and finished in the top-three 15 times across those two seasons. He also finished second in the shotput at the USA Track and Field Junior Championships that year, which qualified him for the Pan-Am Junior Championships. And the accomplishments only continued to build as his career went on, culminating with his strong performance at this year's NCAA Championships.

Lambert said his contributions were clear, both in the record books and what he brought to the team.

"Josh is a good leader for the team and always worked on keeping others fired up during a meet. He also brought prestige and honor to the team, scoring a total of 30 MVC team points, two Missouri Valley Conference titles, as well as two more NCAA All-American Awards," Lambert said.