Keely Medeiros knew her season would come down to a matter of faith.
When her back was injured and in shambles early this spring, she put her worries in God’s hands.
When her coaches asked her to do the unthinkable – tear down her technique and then rebuild it – Medeiros put her faith in their experience.
Finally, when all of the hard work paid off, and Medeiros found herself with a pair of wins over the last two weeks in the shot put and discus – she, again, had faith in herself.
“I’ve had a very up and down spring, because I’ve got hurt, then got healed and then hurt again,” the junior said. “I’m just so glad that everything is getting into place right now.”
In order for her to continue competing this year, UF track head coach Mike Holloway and throws coach Steve Lemke needed the Brazilian thrower to change from her traditional gliding motion, which was stressing her back , to a more spinning action that decreased the tension.
At first, the change wasn’t easy.
“It’s kind of like you are on a bridge and someone tells you to jump and promises there’s going to be water there, but you don’t know if there’s going to be water or not,” Medeiros said.
Initially, the junior was consistently around 14-meters with the new technique, but slowly, she started to see incremental progress.
When she won at the Seminole Twilight Invitational last Saturday, her toss in the shot put went 16.55-meters.
“She’s got a lot of God-given ability and that’s where it starts right there,” Holloway said. “Her and Coach Lemke have a very good bond. They understand each other, and sometimes, it takes coaches a little while to figure out what makes Keely tick.”
Factoring in her win in the discus at the Drake Invitational on April 29, Medeiros four wins are the most individual victories of any UF track and field athlete this season.
Going into this weekend’s Southeastern Conference Outdoor Championships, Holloway also pointed out that Medeiros is just one example of a number of men’s and women’s throwers who have progressed this season under Lemke’s guidance.
Over the last two weeks, three throwers (Jeremy Postin, David Triassi, and Fawn Miller) have captured victories.
“Talking with Steve, he’s kind of like me, he’s pleased but he’s never satisfied,” Holloway said. “He definitely likes what he sees going into the competition this weekend. I think the big thing with that group is that they have to be confident with who they are to be successful.”
