Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
NACAC U-23 Championships
Josh Freeman to Compete for Team USA at NACAC U-23 Championships
07/14/2016 | 5:43:00 | Track and Field
Five-time All-American will represent the United States July 17 in El Salvador.
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Saluki senior thrower Josh Freeman has earned a spot on Team USA for the 2016 North American, Central American and Caribbean (NACAC) U-23 Championships, slated for July 15-17 in El Salvador.
It marks the second time that Freeman will represent the U.S. in international competition. He won gold in the shot put at the 2013 Pan Am Junior Championships in Medellin, Colombia.
"Any chance you get to represent Team USA, even if its just one time, its pretty special," Freeman said. "This being my second time, I'm excited for the opportunity. I get to go to a place I've never been before. It will be my second time outside of the country. The only other time I've been outside the country was with Team USA, so hopefully I can add some more stops outside the country competing at other meets."
The NACAC Athletic Association's U-23 Championships are held every two years in one of the 32 member nations of the North America, Central America and Caribbean Athletic Association - one of six regional athletics associations affiliated with the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). Josh was chosen by USA Track & Field based on the United States performance rank order for all age-eligible athletes (those being 20, 21 or 22).
And while Josh is looking forward to donning the Red, White and Blue for the second time of his career, he remains focused on the task at hand: getting healthy. The seven-time MVC champion battled injuries for most of his senior season after a freak foot injury suffered while stepping off the team bus at the 2016 MVC Indoor Championships in Cedar Falls, Iowa hampered him throughout most of the 2016 Outdoor season.
The foot injury slowly worked its way up to Josh's hip and then to his glute, which made pushing off and throwing that much more painful. The effect of the injuries on Josh's performance weren't noticeable to those tracking his finishes. He was still able to become the first male thrower in the Missouri Valley Conference's 108-year history to win four-straight outdoor shot put titles, and followed by earning his sixth career trip to the NCAA Championships at the NCAA West Prelims in late May.
Once at the 2016 NCAA Outdoor Championships, Josh seemed to return to pre-injury form. He uncorked his longest throw in just under two months, a toss of 63-10.25 (19.46m), to place sixth and earn the fifth All-American honors of his collegiate career.
"He started to look like his old self on his last three throws of the (NCAA Championship) and got the best mark he has had since middle April," SIU throws coach J.C. Lambert said.
Now that he is beginning to feel healthy for the first time since mid-March, Freeman knows the time for big throws is now.
"Now that I'm getting healthy, I just need to keep putting it all together, compete in a meet and maybe something big will happen," Freeman said. "With the NACAC team, I get another opportunity to go to a big meet and hopefully throw really well."
Following NACAC's, Josh will shift his focus to training for the 2020 Olympic games. And by then, student-athletes may be referring to him as "Coach Freeman," as the recreational studies major will be doing an internship with the SIU Track and Field office this fall to complete his major.
"I'm going to do a coaching internship under Coach Lambert and hopefully help write workouts, maybe help around the office as far as assisting with travel, handing out gear, all the things that coaches need to do," Freeman said. "Hopefully that will help set me up for the future."
The Cary-Grove H.S. product, who was the first person in the high school's history to win two individual state titles in the same year, will have the added benefit of getting to work with another IHSA state champion he's all too familiar with. Josh's sister, Nikki, the 2016 IHSA Class 3A discus champion, signed a letter of intent and plans to throw for the Salukis next fall.
Josh will throw the shot at the NACAC U-23 Championships in El Salvador on Sunday, July 17.
Players Mentioned
