Photo by: Ryan Comstock
Photo by: Mary Ann Magnant
Back in the 1970s, a pair of American musicians hit the pop charts with an album titled Twin Sons of Different Mothers. Whatever special connection those two had certainly would have difficulty matching the similarities in the careers, thus far, of two record-setting javelin throwers from Pennsylvania, Madison Wiltrout and Evelyn Bliss.
And tomorrow morning (Friday, Sept. 19), Bliss and then Wiltrout will compete for Team USA in a pair of qualifying sessions at the World Championships in Tokyo as the women's javelin field is cut from 36 of the world's best down to at least 12 for Saturday's final.
"Getting to represent Pennsylvania with Madison has been so special," said Bliss, who recently started her junior year at Bucknell University. "We got to know each other a little bit more down in the Bahamas at NACAC (North American, Central American and Caribbean) and learning that she was also a baseball pitcher. The similarities that we have have been so exciting.
"I also got to pick her brain because she has been throwing for longer than I have. I am really grateful and also it's just been so awesome to have another Pennsylvania girl there. Having not both chosen javelin, we might not have ever met. It's just been so cool. I'm so blessed."
The bonds shared by Wiltrout, who won four WPIAL and four PIAA Class AAA javelin titles at Connellsville, and Bliss, who won the Class AA state title in 2023 for Union/Allegheny-Clarion Valley, are numerous, including:
Both were accomplished pitchers, having spent much time on the mound as Little Leaguers.
Wiltrout owns the AAA state meet record of 182 feet, 8 inches from 2015, while Bliss tops the PIAA AA list with a throw of 170-2 from 2023.
The duo grew up less than 100 miles apart, north and south of Pittsburgh in western Pennsylvania.
Wiltrout earned All-American honors each year as a North Carolina Tar Heel, while Bliss is 2-for-2 in post-season honors to start her career as a Bucknell Bison.
Bliss and Wiltrout finished 1-2 at this year's USA championships and then at the NACAC meet in mid-August, guaranteeing both spots on Team USA for the ongoing World Championships.
According to World Athletics, the head-to-head performance record between the Pennsylvania pair currently is deadlocked at 2-2.
And finally, Wiltrout and Bliss both were born in June.
"She mentioned those to me, and I said, 'my gosh, no way,' Wiltrout, 26, said of her 20-year-old Team USA teammate's baseball past. "Finally at NACACs, we sat down (at a meal) and I said tell me about your story. She was saying all of that stuff, and I said, 'You sound like literally my childhood.' We literally had the same childhood."
Already a state champion heading into the spring of 2015, Wiltrout started making bigger headlines almost immediately in her sophomore prep campaign. A then state-record throw of 168-5 at the Penn Relays set the stage for Wiltrout's lone throw on May 7 of that year in the WPIAL Class AAA qualifier.
That stunning heave of 185-8 set state and national high school records that still stand, while Bliss threw 170-2 in the 2017 PIAA meet for third on PA MileSplit's all-time rankings with the 600-gram javelin.
In addition to being the best in the U.S. in 2025, both throwers are among the finest American women ever in the event. Wiltrout's PR of 61.17 meters (200-8) for third at the 2024 Olympic Trials is No. 8 on the USA list, while Bliss is 10th with her 60.81-meter (199-6) heave at the University Games earlier this summer.
Wiltrout has been navigating the post-collegiate track world without the benefit of an agent and working through a variety of injuries and coaching changes while employed at a chiropractic practice in Cary, N.C., that has been "very flexible and 100 percent supportive" of her professional track career. Including surgery to repair the UCL in her right elbow that was injured while winning the PIAA meet in 2015, Wiltrout has had six athletic-related surgeries on her foot, heel and wrists.
In the midst of her collegiate career, it was her first 60-meter throw to win the ACC title in 2022 that kept her in the sport and event.
"That season, I was coming off one of the worst seasons in my life," Wiltrout noted. "I called my mom and said, 'I don't know how to throw this stick to save my life.' I was out walking back and forth on the track at UNC for like four hours because I was contemplating not doing this anymore. It took me that whole time to realize you have to connect you and the throw.
"It's not about the way everybody else throws or the distances they are throwing. It's about you and what makes you happy in training and how you can connect to that javelin. I enjoy this. I don't know why I enjoy throwing a stick. I believe I am meant to do this right now. I just love the sport again. It kept me in it."
Bliss, meanwhile, goes into the World Championships at the end of a season that started back in March and has continued to get better as the competition gets better.
"I owe a lot of credit to Coach (Ryan) Protzman," Bliss noted. "He really delayed my opening meet for the season. I also did not throw in a lot of meets in the regular season. I think most of my meets have been post-season. That was something we learned from my freshman year.
"The way I train has been very consistent this year. I do a throw day, a lift day, a day off. And I feel like that day off is crucial for me to maintain the place that I'm at and also just allows for a lot of treatments to make sure I feel good when I go to my next throw day."
Wiltrout's journey to securing her first red, white and blue uniform and representing the USA internationally has taken longer than for Bliss, but both have enjoyed the ride.
"Honestly, I was pretty speechless," Wiltrout said of her initial reaction to getting her Team USA gear. "I had some friends over, and we all unboxed it together. I really liked that rather than do it alone. I celebrated with everybody. We all did it together.
"It felt good to share it. Being able to get all of that gear, be in that position, and good enough to finally make the team ... surreal. All of the hard work, all the pain, all the injuries, all the things, heartbreaks, happy, success, failures was so worth it. I get to represent the United States! Just a simple statement but it carries so much weight."