It's not that unusual to have members of a high school's track and field team also run for the cross country squad in the fall.

It is unusual when that track and field athlete is a discus thrower and shot putter, not a distance runner.

Meet Freedom Area High School junior Ashley Adams, cross country runner, PIAA Class AA medalist in the discus and shot.

While Adams is hardly oversized, she is bigger than most distance runners, which means she tends to stand out at the starting line at cross country meets.

"Somebody said I'm the only one [on the line] with leg muscles," she said with a laugh.

Adams didn't do poorly running 3.1 miles. She had a time of 26 minutes, 34 seconds at the WPIAL Class AA cross country championships last fall, which comes out to a more than respectable 8:34 per mile pace.

That probably makes her the best distance runner among throwers in track and field in the WPIAL. Surprisingly, Adams said the distance running helps with her throwing.

"It helps with my conditioning, but it also helps make me quicker," she said. "You need to have strong legs for both [shot put and discus]. I use the spin technique in the shot and you have to be smooth with that."

She plans on running cross country again this year, which makes sense. Why mess with something that has lead to success?

Last month, Adams placed first in the shot put and the discus at the WPIAL Class AA championships. She won the discus with a distance of 126 feet, 5 inches and the shot put with a heave of 40-5.

At the PIAA championships May 23-24 at Shippensburg University, Adams was second in the shot put with a toss of 41-9¹/₂ and fifth in the discus with a 130-9.

Her goals for the season were to throw better than 40 feet in the shot, which she did, and consistently throw in the 130s in the discus.

"I like the discus," Adams said when asked which event she enjoyed more. "It takes a little more finesse than the shot put ... it's more involved."

She didn't get involved in track until her freshman year and started out trying to throw the javelin. Then she gave the discus and shot put a try and liked those events better.

Adams used to play soccer for Freedom, but went out with an ankle injury in the fall of her sophomore year. She had ligament damage and spent about six months with her right ankle in a boot.

Always one to be on the go, the long period of inactivity just about drove Adams crazy.

"It was miserable," she said when asked what it was like to sit around that long.

"When I was able to compete again I was so out of shape. When I started back up again I was throwing only 99 feet [in the discus] and 28 [in the shot.]"

She was able to recover quickly enough to place second in the shot put and the discus at the WPIAL championships. She earned a trip to the PIAA championships and even though she didn't win a medal, she gained valuable experience.

This year when she went to Shippensburg, Adams knew what to expect. She understood the routine and wasn't bothered by the large crowd.

The fact she refined her form in the shot put during the indoor track season helped.

"Since I was going to the spin in the shot, the indoor season gave me an opportunity to work on it and get comfortable with it," she said. "I was just more comfortable coming into this season."

A busy summer confronts Adams. She plans to practice at least twice a week with throwing coach Rudy Beyers, and she will attend Governor's School at Pitt to study medicine for five weeks.

"After that it will be time for cross country practice," she said. "The summer is going to go fast."