Fayetteville, Ark. (March 10, 2006)--If there is such a thing as a "sophomore slump," then sophomore shot putter
Milan Jotanovic probably never heard of it. After bursting onto the national track and field scene as a freshman by qualifying for the shot put finals at the 2005 NCAA Outdoor Championships, Jotanovic has reached even greater heights during his second year in Riverdale. Over the past two months, he has captured the individual shot put crown at the IC4A Championships, Metropolitan Championships, and MAAC Championships, while also breaking the school indoor record four times. Now, after today's performance at the NCAA Indoor Chamionships in Fayetteville, Ark., Jotanovic can also call himself an All-American.
Although Jotanovic did not have his best meet of the season, he still was able to grab NCAA All-American honors as his throw of 18.65m earned him eighth place in the national field. Florida State's Garrett Johnson won the national title with a whopping throw of 20.48m, followed by Idaho's Russ Winger in second at 19.44m and Sean Shields of Arizona's mark of 19.36m. A mark like that of Winger, the meet's runner-up, is not unfamiliar territory for Jotanovic. He recorded marks of over 19.00m on three different occasions this season. Less than a week ago in Boston, he earned the IC4A shot put title with a throw of 19.42m. At the MAAC Championships in mid-February, the sophomore standout set a new meet record as he tossed the shot 19.28m.
The All-American accolade, a first for Jotanovic, caps off an incredible indoor season of firsts for the sophomore. In his first collegiate season, the Serbian native finished second to Sam Segond of Rutgers at the 2005 Metropolitan Indoor Championships. At the 2005 IC4A Indoor Championships, he finished third behind Justin Clickett of Pittsburgh and Andre Reid of Rhode Island. This year, however, Jotanovic wrote a different script with a much happier ending. Although it was a much more favorable conclusion, the shot put competition at the Mets will not win any awards for suspense as Jotanovic took the title by over two meters. At the IC4A meet, however, Jotanovic made things very interesting. With Northeastern shot putter Derek Anderson's throw of 19.06m leading the competition going into the final attempt, Jotanovic stepped up and emphatically stole the title from Anderson with a mark of 19.42m on his final throw.
Jotanovic began his ascension toward the nation's top ten list back in early January at the Jasper Relays. After standing atop the record book for 27 years, former Jasper thrower Tony Harlan and his school indoor record of 18.52m were bumped down a notch on the Manhattan all-time shot put list as Jotanovic threw 18.55m. In less than two months, Jotanovic added 87 centimeters to his record-breaking throw of 18.55m.
Now, it is time for the sophomore to take a stab at besting his stellar outdoor season of a year ago, and unlike indoor track and field, there is no roof over one's head. When looking up while standing out in the field, one can see that the sky is the limit.
