Before his junior year at Harrisburg High School, J.C. Lambert was getting ready for football season. Then his best friend, John Mark, had a suggestion.

“He talked me into coming out for track and field,” Lambert said last week. “He said throwing might be a good thing for me.”

Six years later, SIU has reaped the benefits of Mark’s inspiration. When Lambert spins and whirls the hammer this week at the NCAA West Region Preliminary Round Championships in Austin, Texas, he’ll do so with a real chance at a national title.

Lambert set school and Missouri Valley Conference records May 10 in the Valley meet at Drake, heaving the hammer 220 feet, 6 inches on his third throw. A foul on his last attempt of the event wiped out a toss of 225-2.