In sports, athletes often talk about being “100 percent healthy.” That is, no bangs or bruises, no hurting, no pain.

Being “100 percent” isn’t a prerequisite for performing at a high level, but being less than 100 percent can prevent an athlete from being at his or her best.

Biddeford native Ashley Belanger was well below 100 percent during the University of Southern Maine’s outdoor track and field season last year. In fact, she was at zero percent for the Huskies, as her freshman season was wiped away due to shoulder surgery after the indoor season.

With her shoulder back in working order, Belanger had another stellar indoor season for USM, then repeated the performance during her maiden college outdoor season.

But Belanger still wasn’t 100 percent, even though she broke the USM outdoor record in the shot put. She will be going under the knife again today, as she competed the entire outdoor season with a bad ankle.

“All my injuries have been from gymnastics, and from the years of doing gymnastics,” said Belanger, who took to throwing after being forced to give up her gymnastics career due to all the wear and tear. “This one just kind of got worse as I was rehabbing my shoulder and coming back for my shoulder. It just kind of continued to get worse, and then this winter it got bad enough to go see the doctor.”

Belanger, who was the Class A state champion in the shot put her senior year in 2013, said she didn’t know what to expect going into this outdoor season, despite having success from the indoor season to use as a gauge.

It became apparent in her first meet of the year ”“ and her collegiate outdoor career ”“ that she could be just as good with the metal shot as she was with the soft shell one from indoor.

Belanger finished seventh in the shot put at the North Florida Spring Break Invitational with a best throw of 12.58 meters, just three centimeters shy of the school record (12.61 meters).

“It kind of set me up, like ”˜oh okay, maybe I can do this,’” said Belanger.

Belanger earned Little East Conference Field Athlete of the Week honors for her initial performance. She garnered the same recognition last week, after finishing seventh at the NEICAAA New England Championships on May 9. In that meet she broke the school record that she initially broke the week before, as she now holds the all-time mark at 12.92 meters.

“It felt amazing knowing that I was able to do that, and that I’ll probably break it next year if I keep working hard,” Belanger said of breaking the school record in her first outdoor season.

Belanger finished the season Friday with an eighth-place finish at the ECAC Division III Championships. She earned All-ECAC honors with her placing, to go along with All-New England recognition she received from the NEICAAA meet.

“It’s really nice. I wasn’t expecting any of it, actually. I was a little bit nervous coming into outdoor season because it’s the first time I’ve competed outdoor since high school,” said Belanger of all the honors. “But I’m proud of myself. I wasn’t expecting those at all.”

Belanger has come a long way since her time with the Biddeford High School track team, when she admittedly struggled with consistency despite state-championship talent. She attributed much of her improvement to first-year USM assistant Becky O’Brien, who was a standout thrower at Greely High School and the University of Buffalo.

“It’s very nice because of how she has gone through everything, and it hasn’t been too long since she’s been through it. She knows exactly what’s going through our head and exactly how we feel,” Belanger said of O’Brien. “She just knows how to push us ”“ not too far and not too hard. She challenges us on a daily basis, pushing us to our limits. She knows what our limits are. And she just continues to push and challenge us every day, and the challenging us makes us want to strive and get better.”

Belanger said that it was hard to miss last year’s outdoor season, as she watched many of the same teammates from the indoor season continue to compete while she rehabbed her surgically-repaired shoulder at Southern Maine Health Care’s Sports Performance Center.

But she also said she believes that going through the rehab process has helped make her a better and stronger thrower.

The results don’t lie.

In just three total seasons ”“ two indoor, one outdoor ”“ Belanger has re-written the USM record books in the shot put. Now she’ll go through a roughly three-month recovery process after ankle surgery. Then the indoor season begins this coming fall.

By then Belanger should be 100 percent. And really, it will be for the first time in her track and field career.

“Indoor I will be back in action, perfectly healthy, ready to smash some records again,” said Belanger, who also has a goal of qualifying for the Division III Nationals in either indoor or outdoor, or both.

— Sports Staff Writer Wil Kramlich can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 323 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @WilTalkSports.