DES MOINES, Iowa – Facing rotten weather conditions and having to borrow javelins to warm up after meet workers misplaced her implements, Northwestern State freshman Ashley Aldredge overcame adversity for what her coach called her “best performance” Friday in a high-caliber field at the prestigious Drake Relays.

Aldredge didn't top her personal best with a 156-7 throw, good for seventh place in the 50-degree weather with showers and winds from 25-40 mph. But her performance left Lady Demon track and field coach Mike Heimerman excited about the immediate future at the Southland Conference Championships in two weeks and the NCAA Championships in a month.

She is not entered Saturday as the other NSU track and field competitors line up with Nicholls State and LSU athletes, along with the host squads, at the Cole-Lancon Invitational at Louisiana-Lafayette.

“She'd like to, but there's no reason to push it,” said Heimerman. “I'm pretty happy about her day, especially considering these conditions and the caliber of the competition. Most of the throwers were 20-30 feet behind their personal records. She was in range of hers (166-0, 14^th nationally) and she had two throws that would have been PRs but they were pushed out of bounds by the wind.

“Ashley refined her approach and got it the way we need it. Technically, she looked pretty good. On a normal weather day, she would throw in the 170-foot range easily with the way she performed today. It was a turning point in her development,” he said.

There were more than 10 throwers in the field with PRs past Aldredge, including the collegiate winner, defending NCAA champion Brittany Borman of Oklahoma, who threw 179-0 Friday, 15 feet behind her season's PR. American record-holder Kara Patterson had the best mark at 185-7, more than 30 feet behind her career best of 218-8.

Four of the top 10-ranked NCAA throwers and the reigning NAIA champion finished ahead of Aldredge, who beat one top 10 thrower and two more top 20 competitors.

“This was by far the best field she's competed against. Making the finals (top 11 marks out of the qualifying round of three throws) was a great accomplishment,” said Heimerman.  “She had a nerve-wracking warmup when her javelins were misplaced, but they found them in Drake's locker room just in time for her first throw, and she competed very focused and very, very well. She's disappointed because it's her birthday today, but I'm not hardly.”

The weather played right into Heimernan's long-range plans, which point toward Des Moines, which will host the NCAA Championships, and Eugene, Ore., site of the USA Olympic Trials.

“It gets cold and wet in Des Moines well into the summer. It gets cold and wet all year in Eugene,” he said. “That was why we came here, to prepare her for those possibilities. In this weather, against this level of competition, she really made me proud,” he said.