It came down to one more throw for Ellie Berendzen.

The Centralia all-stater and upcoming Columbia College senior qualified for the NAIA National Championships in Asheville, North Carolina on May 20 after achieving the standard mark in the hammer throw with a personal-best 51.85 meters on her last attempt. Berendzen finished 25th after posting around her average distance with a 47.47 meters.

Berendzen earned a state medal as a Centralia senior in the discus in 2023 in her third state meet. She became accustomed to the high school big stage but debuted on the national stage.

“Every year, there is a different mark for it,” Berendzen said. “They increase it based on how many people make it the year before. Each year, it felt more out of reach. This year, I really put my mind to it, and it all worked out.”

Berendzen won an American Midwest Conference championship in the weight throw but still wasn’t in the nationals field. At the Concordia Twilight meet on May 8 in Nebraska, Berendzen threw the distance she needed. 

“Once I hit it, I knew I did it,” Berendzen said. “I was pretty excited. We all celebrated when we got back together.”

Berendzen referred to her throwing coach and assistant coach Mason McCaleb, who stepped away for a moment to watch the team’s discus throwers after seeing Berendzen the first few times. McCaleb said he initially thought she achieved the standard on her second throw but a miscalculation put her short two meters.

“We celebrated a national mark and then they took it away,” McCaleb said. “She was determined to do it again. It was awesome.”

McCaleb had high hopes for Berendzen going into the last chance meet. In fact, he said he thought she could be a nationals thrower when she was recruited.

Berendzen displayed some skills as a discus thrower and then took a liking to the hammer as a freshman after not throwing hammer before that. McCaleb said she had a good foundation with height and strength.

“It’s everything coming to fruition,” McCaleb said. “You see that vision when you first recruit them. The very last meet of the year, it was awesome. It’s one of those top moments for a coach.”

Berendzen said she became comfortable with the hammer quickly. Speed factors into her success and success in the event.

“A lot of it has to do with the rotation of the ball as it’s on wire,” Berendzen said. “You really have to get that rotation right and get proper footwork. In the past, I’ve been doing three turns, and I increased it to four turns this year to help build up my speed, which is where a lot of my power comes from.”

Speed and power are both important, according to Berendzen, as good throwers tend to have explosiveness. 

While being quick is important, Berendzen said patience was key in her development. She said McCaleb has patience and takes a lot of time, even outside of practice, to help his athletes.

“He really helps us adjust to the event,” Berendzen said. “He really focuses on your technique and form to make sure everybody is picking up on it. He spends a lot of time watching videos. Outside of practice, he’ll send you tips and help you know what you need to work on.”

McCaleb, who is in his sixth year as a coach at his alma mater, said there is “a split-second” to get a throw off in hammer, so Berendzen’s quickness helps. He trusts in her abilities, and he thinks he needs to earn the athlete’s trust, which is why he watches throwing videos in his free time. He added that he enjoys watching them, too.

“The biggest thing for me is the coach-athlete relationship,” McCaleb said. “In order to trust me, I’m going to earn your trust. I’m going to work with you one-on-one and figure things out as we go. There’s no one formula for everybody.”

Being patient and building athletes up happens over time, but McCaleb said this just doesn’t include throwing abilities. An athlete’s confidence increases over time, and he said this made a difference for Berendzen this year.

McCaleb said throwing has its ebbs and flows. One day might be a bad one and then another could see a thrower hit a national standard. When they gain confidence, McCaleb said their talent takes over.

“The biggest difference was confidence,” McCaleb said. “I see the best potential in all of them. Until they do something (that impresses them), they don’t realize that confidence for a while. She opened up pretty big in the first meet and kept working at it all year. Throwing is a mental game.”

Berendzen has thrown in all events in her collegiate career but is looking to scale back to hammer throw and weight throw due to the “wear and tear” she has from throwing discus. She was a conference champion in the weight throw during the latest indoor season. 

Her career and her first nationals appearance, especially, has been fun because she was able to lean on her teammates. Berendzen still had nerves, but she said they weren’t as bad as they would be if she were alone. Some of her teammates had prior national experience, and she hopes she can be that person next year.

“They were definitely there to support me through everything,” Berendzen said. “It was nice having people I’m familiar with and comfortable with to cheer me on and help me through. A few of them had been there before, so they knew what to expect.”