SOUTH BEND, Ind. — A little more than a year ago, Maura Kimmel had no idea how much her life was about to change.

But a conversation with University of Pennsylvania assistant throwing coach Jeff Pflaumbaum changed the trajectory of her life and track and field career.

A senior at Penn and a Moniteau High School graduate, Kimmel was settling in for her final outdoor season in the shot put and discus.

At the time, no one knew just how severe COVID-19 would be. No one knew it was about to shut down collegiate sports for the spring.

Well, almost no one.

“I think it was a week before everything shut down and (Coach Pflaumbaum and I) were like, 'What's going on with this virus?'” Kimmel said. “No sports had been canceled yet and we were talking about the indoor nationals. He said he was actually pretty confident it wasn't going to happen. That's when I started making plans based off of that assumption.”

Kimmel mentally prepared herself for a lost season. When the track and field campaign was scuttled, Kimmel had already braced for it.

“I was a little bit fortunate,” Kimmel said. “A lot of people reached out to me and thought that I was going to be completely heartbroken. But I stayed calm under pressure.”

And Kimmel was determined to cash in on her extra year of eligibility.

So, she went shopping for a graduate school that met both her academic and athletic needs.

Notre Dame fit both.

She graduated from Penn in May with a degree in engineering and applied science and was in class at Notre Dame in June to begin an 11-month master's degree program in management.

Kimmel has already made a big impact with the Irish. At the Joe Walker Classic in Oxford, Miss., on Saturday, she broke the program record in the discus with a throw of 55.63 meters.

“It felt good,” Kimmel said. “It was definitely a goal of mine coming in. It's nice to leave my mark.”

Kimmel also left quite a mark at Penn.

She holds the indoor and outdoor school records in the shot put and ranks second in the discus.

Kimmel won the PIAA Class AA title in the discus at the end of her senior year at Moniteau.

“When I look back now to where I was, I don't think the thrower I was coming out of high school would throw as far as I have, heck, by even the end of my sophomore year (at Penn),” Kimmel said.

A lot of that had to do with reinventing herself and an injury that almost derailed her burgeoning collegiate career.

During her freshman campaign at Penn, Kimmel suffered a lower back injury.

It prevented Kimmel for doing traditional weight training — a must for a thrower.

It took her two years to figure out how to manage it, yet she was still able to perform at a high level.

“It was always up and down during my undergrad career trying to figure that out,” Kimmel said. “I had to learn when to work through some pain and when I shouldn't be working through it. There were some messy months there.

“I'm very thankful for Coach Pflaumbaum because he changed a lot of the ways I looked at throwing and just helped me through the times where it would have been a lot easier to quit.”

There's one thing missing from Kimmel's resume, however.

A trip to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

That's Kimmel's prime goal in what she calls her “bonus year” at Notre Dame.

“It's been all about enjoying the experience for me,” Kimmel said. “The way Notre Dame treats athletes has been great.

“I've still never made nationals — I've been to regionals quite a few times,” Kimmel added. I think with the way the discus is going for me, it seem entirely possible. Nationals has been my goal for quite some time, so finally getting there would be all I could ask for from this season or any season. I think it would be a great way to go out.”