Returning to Eugene one last time

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As 4:45 p.m. PT approaches on Thursday, June 10, the nerves will start, the excitement will ramp up. It will mark the final event in the decorated career of Vanja Spaic, a sixth-year senior and two-time All-American in the javelin at Fresno State.

The 2021 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Nationals back in Eugene, Oregon for the first time in three years.

While Hayward Field will look a bit different this time around compared to her trips in 2017 and 2018, the feelings heading into a final meet of a career will be the same.

"It's a bittersweet feeling," said Spaic of the lead up to nationals. "I'm excited but I don't like that it's my last meet for Fresno State, but that's normal. Everything has to come to an end, and I'll make sure that I have fun because that's what matters."

Not only will Thursday be the end of a career, it will be the final piece in a long journey for the Bulldog. Following a 12^th-place finish at the championships in 2018, her second consecutive Second Team All-America honor, Spaic hasn't been back due to circumstances outside of her control.

During the summer of 2018, Spaic was back in Europe competing. One throw changed the course of her career.

A stretch. A high release. And a pain she hadn't felt before. She knew something wasn't right.

Spaic took the remainder of the summer off to rest her elbow. When she returned to Fresno during the fall, practice resumed. While it felt better, it was unstable compared to the feeling prior to the injury. Then one day, she had that same feeling. An MRI revealed a tear. Surgery in November meant about a nine-month rehab that forced her to sit out the 2019 season.

"It was slow but good," she said about the process. "It's was crazy, like your arm is not broken but you can't use it. It was two weeks in a cast and then literally learning how to use it again."

Basic exercises were a chore. Throwing volleyballs and basketballs were challenging, a tough thing mentally for someone who is used to throwing a seven-foot spear well over 160 feet. While difficult at first, she stuck to the process just as others in the sport have done following similar injuries. During the summer of 2019, a year after the injury first occurred, Spaic was back throwing, albeit not full approaches.

"I was supposed to, it was part of the rehab, but only easy like a couple of steps," Spaic said. "I wasn't confident really throwing until January, that was when I did full approach."

During that fall, she was also working with a new coach, Joe Riccio, who joined Jason Drake's staff. Without being able to go full, the two worked on building Spaic's strength. Adjusting her technique would come later.

Momentum was trending in the right direction. Her timeline for competition was on schedule. Then a week before her first Fresno State competition in 21 months, she got the news. All athletic events were canceled through the remainder of the season due to the coronavirus pandemic.

"It was bad," Spaic said. "I was devastated. I was so ready to compete because I had good practices leading up, PR practices in February."

She didn't give up hope, though, on the competing during 2020. While the NCAA was shut down, competing in Europe during the summer was still on her mind. She remained in Fresno until June but was not able to practice with Riccio due to protocols. She could only train on her own with plans he sent her.

After returning to Bosnia, she competed three times during the offseason. That summer, she surpassed 53 meters for the first time in competition, and in her final meet in mid-September she won the javelin at the Balkan Athletics Championships with a throw of 53.31m/174-11.

Five months later, she was back in Fresno working with Riccio, gearing up for what would be her final season, again.

Thirty-three months after her last competition for Fresno State, Spaic was finally back on the runway for the Bulldogs when she competed at the Central California Invitational at Fresno Pacific.

"I was excited and nervous because I didn't have a competition with Fresno State in so long and it was the first one with Joe," Spaic said. "It was new."

Though on paper her season has been a success, winning her first six events of the season which culminated in her third straight javelin title at the Mountain West Championships, a personal best didn't happen. But she's still confident that it's coming.

The big throw she was looking for came at the end of May at regionals in College Station, Texas, but it happened during warm-ups. That one throw has shown her what is possible.

"I feel way better than earlier this season because I've been able to see myself throw far," she said as she heads into nationals. "It's changed a little since regionals when I had that big throw and it gave me even more confidence. Even though it didn't count, I feel way more confident going into this competition."

Three years ago, Spaic left Hayward Field disappointed. She finished one place back of the previous year and didn't set a PB. This time she's feeling as confident as ever and is ready to close out a chapter that has been a long time in the making.

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Returning to Eugene one last time

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