Maryann Ackerman has been sprinting down a runway and chucking a javelin almost every day since the coronavirus pandemic hit and shut things down in March.

It was difficult at times.

No competitions.

No way to truly gauge her progress.

Endless practices.

“I was just doing it for the heck of it,” Ackerman said.

That made it tough to stay dedicated, but Ackerman powered through, trying to stay in shape and stay strong for the better times that were to come.

That time is now.

Now, Ackerman has a purpose.

The incoming Slippery Rock High senior, who lost her entire junior year of basketball and track and field to first a knee injury and then COVID-19, will compete in a pair of events in July.

The big one comes toward the end of the month at the American JavFest, a national javelin competition held in East Stroudsburg.

On July 11 Ackerman will compete in a track and field invitational at Laurel High School.

“It's given me a lot more purpose I'd say,” Ackerman said.

Ackerman doesn't really know what to expect.

The last time she threw a javelin in a meet was at the PIAA Track and Field Championships in May of 2019.

She finished second there in Class AA with a throw of 134 feet, 2 inches on a very windy afternoon in Shippensburg.

Her best throw in the event is 147-5.

But just 15 days after that silver-medal performance, Ackerman tore her ACL during a summer basketball game.

That cost her the 2019-20 basketball season for the Rockets. As a sophomore, she was the team's leading scorer.

Ackerman was ready to go by the spring and got two weeks of practices in with the track and field team at Slippery Rock before the season was scuttled by the coronavirus.

Ackerman has been working hard anyway.

She said her best throw during her quarantine workouts was 146 feet and she has been consistently throwing distances comparable to her best efforts at the end of her sophomore year.

“I'm close to where I was last year, even with the knee injury,” Ackerman said. “That's definitely encouraging.”

Still, Ackerman is trying not to put too much emphasis on how she performs in the upcoming meets.

“I've talked to some college coaches and they told me it's just two meets and not to put too much pressure on yourself,” Ackerman said. “I'm just going to see what happens.”

Ackerman has competed — sort of — in events this spring.

Ackerman took part in a few “virtual” meets staged on social media.

Competitors took to their own runways to film themselves heaving their javelins and measuring out the distances.

Ackerman won one of the events with a throw of 136 feet.

She finished second in another event to a girl from Oregon.

“It was one of those things where anyone could do it,” Ackerman said. “There were kids of all ages doing it. It was fun.”

Ackerman has also been doing basketball workouts. She said the Rockets may get back into the gym soon.

That's also a cause for some nervousness for Ackerman, who hasn't played basketball in more than a year.

Her knee, though, feels sound.

“It feels back to normal,” she said. “I haven't played basketball on it yet, so that will be interesting. Throwing-wise it feels fine, but basketball is different.”