Manhattan University Athletics

Fayetteville, Ark. (March 10, 2007)?Milan Jotanovic remembers just missing a few big throws during his disappointing 11^th place finish at the 2006 NCAA Outdoor Championships this past June.  Nine months later, the junior shot putter had another opportunity to perform on a national stage at the NCAA Indoor Championships on Saturday evening and this time he didn't miss. 

Jotanovic finished fourth overall in a highly-competitive field by setting a new personal record of 19.56m to earn NCAA Indoor All-American honors for the second consecutive year.

“I wasn't really nervous going into the competition, because my training was rigorous and I was prepared,” commented Jotanovic.

The junior thrower showed he was, indeed, ready by finishing two spots higher than the sixth seed he owned coming into the meet.  Before Saturday, Jotanovic's 2007 best was the 19.40m mark he posted at the MAAC Championships, breaking his own meet record of 19.30m from the previous year.

“Being able to improve on my seed against such a great group of throwers is very satisfying for me,” said Jotanovic.  “This was a very strong meet in terms of the competition, so I feel great to walk away as All-American.”

All three finishers ahead of Jotanovic also posted new seasonal bests with Noah Bryant from the University of Southern California leading the way to claim the national title.  Seeded fourth with a mark of 19.50m, Bryant exploded for a winning mark of 20.55m on Saturday.  Russ Winger of the University of Idaho, the top seed at 19.94m, took second place with a mark of 20.52m, while the University of Arizona's Ryan Whiting improved by 12 centimeters to finish third with a mark of 20.01m.

Although Whiting finished ahead of Jotanovic, the Jasper did manage to beat a pair of Arizona Wildcats.  Adam Kuehl and Shawn Best were fifth and sixth, respectively, with marks of 19.40m and 19.36m.

Jotanovic's performance stands as a drastic improvement on his finish from last year's championships, where he claimed eighth place with a mark of 18.65m.

“To set a PR and finish higher than his seed at a meet like the NCAA Championships is a tremendous accomplishment,” said head coach Dan Mecca, who has now seen 24 NCAA All-Americans during his 21-year tenure at Manhattan.  “Milan is a terrific competitor, and we saw that on display tonight.”

Jotanovic, who advanced out of the first preliminary flight with a mark of 19.06m, said he did not enjoy waiting another 45 minutes until the second flight's completion.

“I was a little unsure early on and was trying to build up confidence with each throw, but I got  a little cold waiting for the finals to start,” said Jotanovic.

When the finals did start, Jotanovic banged out a throw of 19.24m on his first attempt, and then followed by hitting the 19.56m.

“After making 19.56, I felt great,” noted the Jasper thrower.  “I wanted go for everything or nothing on my last throw, and I fouled it.”

Jotanovic may have fouled that final throw, but he certainly came away with much more than nothing.