Brooks Made NCAA Shot Put History

In the span of five years, Tia Brooks went from a prep athlete at East Kentwood (Mich.) High School fighting tooth-and-nail to never throw the shot or disc to a college freshman at the University of Oklahoma battling exponentially harder for the smallest possibility of being able to launch her prized weighted orb just once more after suffering a near career-ending injury.

Perspective has an interesting way of changing things.

“I didn’t want to be the stereotypical thrower – the big girl who didn’t run and wasn’t athletic,” Brooks later told the State Games of Michigan website. “But when I realized that I can maintain my femininity and just get stronger and make strong look beautiful – it’s kind of empowering.”

After a standout prep career where she was a state champion, a two-time regional champion and a four-time all-state honoree, Brooks earned a scholarship to compete for the Sooners. But, not long into her freshman year at Oklahoma, Brooks lost feeling in her legs during a weightlifting session and had to be stretchered out. It was later discovered that Brooks had two bulging discs, a degenerative disc disorder and a narrowing of her spine.

Doctors recommended that Brooks should quit throwing and focus on another sport, yet the Michigan native wasn’t deterred. She vowed to push through her rehab with just as much tenacity as she would in the circle during a competition – and before long, she returned.

After moderate success as a redshirt freshman (runner-up finishes at both the Big 12 Indoor and Outdoor Championships), Brooks had a breakthrough year in 2011. The sophomore won the Big 12 indoor title and finished runner-up at both the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships.

To say Brooks turned it up a notch as a junior and senior would be an understatement. She went a combined 17-3 in shot put finals in her final two years with the Sooners – including a perfect 8-0 mark in championship settings between both sets of Big 12 and NCAA meets to sweep each title twice – and left her name all over the collegiate indoor and outdoor record books.

Brooks, though, saved her best for last. After a junior year where she won both NCAA titles by more than two feet and finished third at the U.S. Olympic Trials, Brooks broke the collegiate indoor record at the 2013 NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships with her winning heave of 19.22m (63-0¾) and then shattered the 15-year-old meet record at NCAA Outdoor Championships by nearly one foot at 18.91m (62-0½). Brooks’ best outdoor mark in 2013 came at the NCAA Division I First Round Championships when she landed the orb just three centimeters (1½ inches) behind Meg Ritchie’s long-standing collegiate record.

“People are not often born with the desire to shot put,” Brooks later told the State Games of Michigan website. “Instead, they progress into the sport. Therefore, it is important to realize that as long as you maintain your athleticism, you can be successful in a variety of sports. I was pretty resistant to being a shot putter, but when I gave it a try, I knew it was my calling.”