AUSTIN, Texas — For Jordan Geist, it wasn't about the physical.

Geist knew the tools were there. He was bigger. Stronger. More technically sound.

For Geist, the NCAA Division I track and field championships were all mental.

Geist, a Knoch graduate and sophomore at the University of Arizona, entered the championships Wednesday night with the farthest throw in the nation in the shot put at 70 feet, 10 inches.

Geist wound up third with a throw of 66 feet, 7¾ inches.

Adrian Piperi of Texas won the national title with a personal-best effort 69-3¼.

Geist's goal was to improve upon his fifth-place finish last season at nationals.

He succeeded.

“I'm competing against myself,” Geist said earlier Wednesday. “If I start worrying about what the other people are throwing, I'm going to rush and try to muscle my throws and then bad things will happen.”

Mostly good things have happened for Geist since he left Knoch as one of the most decorated high school throwers in the country and embarked on his collegiate journey.

Geist is a two-time PAC-12 champion in the shot put, has the Arizona record in the event and is a four-time West Region Field Athlete of the Year (two outdoor and two indoor).

He won the PAC-12 Freshman of the Year Award after last season.

“What I've done so far is good to look back on,” Geist said. “But there's a lot more I want to do.”

Namely, winning a national title.

He came up short this year, but he fared better.

Last year he was disappointed with his fifth-place finish at the NCAA championships. He was also fifth in the indoor championships two years in a row.

Five has not been good to Geist.

But 70 has.

Geist threw 70 feet with the heavier college shot put last season as a freshman — setting an NCAA record for a first-year thrower — and has surpassed 70 feet several times this season.

“That was a really big goal of mine,” Geist said. “I'm always looking to build on that and get more consistent. I'm always looking to throw my (personal record) every meet.”

Geist figured he was going to have to throw 69½ feet to win the national title Wednesday, based on the throws of the other competitors heading into the meet.

He was dead on with that prediction.

He said, though, ultimately the distance didn't matter.

Geist just wanted a title.

“If I throw 60 feet and win the national championship, I'll be fine with that,” Geist said.

Geist also had a strong season in the hammer throw, but opted not to compete in that event at nationals.

The hammer throw was scheduled on the same day, a few hours before the shot put.

“I didn't want to do the hammer and then have only two or three hours to get ready for the shot put,” Geist said.

Geist enjoys throwing the hammer. He said throwing both the hammer helps him throw the shot and vice versa.

“The hammer is a lot of fun,” Geist said. “There's not too much pressure on me when I throw it. You have to be very patient when you throw the hammer. When I'm throwing the hammer well I'm usually throwing the shot well, too. You have to be a lot more strict with your technique in the hammer. In the shot, you can get away with more. It helps me focus more on my technique in the shot.”

At Knoch, Geist carried with him many colorful nicknames.

But the one that stuck was the Knochness Monster, a monicker that is still used to describe him today.

Geist was the 2017 Gatorade Player of the Year, won a national title at the New Balance Outdoor Championshops in the hammer with a national-best mark of 238 feet. That throw was also third-best in U.S. high school history.

At the Pan-Am Junior Games in 2017, he won the shot put with a record-setting throw of 72-3 and notched his career-best shot put throw of 76-11 to win the TSTCA Indoor Championships.

But perhaps is favorite achievement came in 2016 when we set a high school world record in the 16-pound shot with a throw of 64-5½ — while wearing a Taylor Swift shirt.

“It's tough sometimes to try to keep it fun,” Geist said at the time. “That's why I wear the Taylor Swift shirt over my uniform. It kills two birds with one stone. It's fun and it draws more people to watch me.”

He's still waiting for a call from Swift.

“Hey, it's her loss right now,” Geist said jokingly then.

She may start to take notice now.