Jeri Daniels-Elder has taken freshman Kim Hicks under her wing like a second mother to bring out better performances in the freshman thrower.

"I hold her to my highest esteem," Hicks said of the assistant track coach. "She's like a mother up here for me."

Under the assistant coach's tutelage, several throwers have gone on to reap national achievements. Her years of experience spent competing and involved with track-and-field have led to her 10-year run of success as a Penn State assistant coach and to the induction of her into William & Mary's Athletic Hall of Fame.

"It's a tremendous honor for me," Daniels-Elder said. "I'm grateful that they had faith in me a decade after I was last there."

Her string of coaching successes may have come from the good rapport she has with those she coaches. She maintains an attitude of a disciplinarian, laced with fun to lighten up the practices.

"She has a very good relationship with the athletes," heptathlete Holly Jones said. "She's more than just a coach, she's the athlete's friend."

Having won a national title in shot put in 1982 and All-America honors four times during her days at William & Mary, Daniels-Elder was well honored for her accomplishments. She came unseeded from the middle of the pack to win the shot put title, and, amazingly, thought she had a better chance to win the discus event. She has the proper ethos to suggest a change in someone's technique.

"Obviously, she is a great role model who leads by example," Head Coach Teri Jordan said. "She pushes her athletes in all ways to be the best they can."

Daniels-Elder uses various motivational techniques to help the throwers attain their goals and to deal with the pressure of college athletics. She knows about the difficult transition that student-athletes have to make from high school to college.

"I help the athletes channel stress from a distraction to an enhancement," Daniels-Elder said. "It's reassuring to have a coach at the big meets who's been through it."

In 1993, Daniels-Elder coached the American team in an indoor meet against England in Birmingham. It gave her the chance to spend quality time with some of America's top athletes.

The good fortune of coaching a high-caliber team gave her a lot of useful experience. She had the opportunity to become a head coach several years ago, but decided to stay at Penn State. A head coaching position remains a possibility for the future, but she doesn't really relish the bureaucratic aspects of the job.

"My true love is with throwing," she said. "I enjoy the coaching more than the administrative duties (of a head coach)."

Next season, Daniels-Elder will relinquish her role as assistant coach to become the volunteer coach because she is expecting her first child in September.

"I'll truly become a real mother," Daniels-Elder said, "instead of a just a substitute."