Union grad Bliss earns silver at Pan-American games
MAYAGUEZ, Puerto Rico — What was meant to be a prize turned into somewhat of an annoyance.
For Union graduate Evie Bliss, it was nothing a few adjustments couldn’t fix — even as she sweated it out in the tropical heat.
“It definitely wasn’t the most organized competition that I’ve ever been to,” Bliss said of last weekend’s Pan American U20 Track and Field Championships. “It was kind of a bit hectic and stressful. Not only was there a language barrier, but they also had just re-done the runway just two days prior, so it was super new, super slippery.”
Still, on her final throw of Sunday morning’s competition, Bliss threw her javelin 173 feet, good enough to finish second behind Uruguay’s Manuela Rotundo Silvera (182 feet) in the event.
“With the new surfaces, you hope that they put them down correctly,” said Ryan Bell, Bliss’ private coach. “But, in many cases, brand-new surfaces — if they’re put down incorrectly — can be very difficult to get good footing on. They have to be kind of broken in a little bit.”
Bliss was also unsure of what spikes she was allowed to wear. In-between practice throws, she changed out of 1/4-inches into 3/4. Still, she slid on her initial two tries.
“The first few of my throws, I was really just trying to get the feel for the runway and try not to slip too bad,” Bliss said. “My teammate, Shea (Greene, of Princeton) had some trouble and difficulties, which kind of bugged me, because nothing was her fault.
“I was getting a little bit more frustrated and putting a little bit more anger behind some of my throws.”
The irritation, combined with a tweak in technique, lent itself to Bliss’ recovery.
“We made the adjustment of not getting so much horizontal drive and basically just working on rhythm, getting a little bit more height on her impulse takeoff and coming down on her block,” Bell said. “The focus was more on being slow and controlled ... and just allowing for the hip and arm to take over.”
Despite the hurdles that came with the contest, Bliss enjoyed her time in Puerto Rico. Her team was confined to the hotel, but she got to kick back at the hotel pool.
“We got there and it was just such a neat place,” she said. “You get to go practice a few days, all the countries are staying at the same hotel or hotels similar, so you got to meet a bunch of people and hang out with a lot of different people from different places.”
Bliss did four weeks of strength training before July’s USATF Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Ore., then another three weeks of the program before the Pan-Ams.
“Going into Pan-Ams, she had all good practice weeks,” Bell said. “She didn’t have a single bad practice in that entire period. I’ve definitely seen her develop as far as getting stronger, as well as just really grasping the event.
“It helped her to be able to produce three meets in a row, which is extremely difficult to do.”
Bliss has set a goal to soon return to the sort of stages she enjoyed this summer. She’ll throw at Bucknell University this spring.
“She earned her way as an 18-year-old to qualify to compete in the U20 championships,” Bell said. “Obviously, winning it was a major deal. Going down to Puerto Rico is the reward for those top two places — she deserved every bit of it.”
“Going down there and getting that experience, it’s a little bit addicting,” Bliss said. “I want to go back, so I feel like that will give me lots of motivation this next year, remembering Puerto Rico and Oregon and how neat those experiences were.”
