RENO, Nev. - Three Throwers from the University of Nevada track & field team will compete at the 2011 NCAA Outdoor Championships hosted by Drake University at Drake Stadium June 8-11. Nevada will have two student-athletes competing in the javelin and one in the hammer.
Three student-athletes qualifying for the outdoor national championships ties the school record, and it's the second time in school history that it's happened. The last time it happened was in 2004 when Caira Hane (hammer and javelin), Kali Baker (800 meters) and Nicole Petty (800 meters) competed and Petty won All-America honors finishing sixth in the 800 meters. Nevada has now had a total of 14 student-athletes qualify for nationals, 12 for outdoors, with six All-Americans in the group. Of the 12 outdoor qualifiers, seven have been throwers. Nevada's last All-American was Caira Hane who finished eighth in the hammer in 2006.
At the 2011 WAC Outdoor Championships in May, Nevada had four javelin throwers place in the top six and all four competed at the NCAA First Round Preliminaries two weeks ago. Freshman Sabine Kopplin was the Pack's top qualifier for the finals, placing eighth with a throw of 162'10" (49.63 meters). The WAC silver medalist, Kopplin was still short of her personal-best 169'3", which currently sits at the second-best in school history.
Senior Marissa Hammond had a huge day at the preliminary round taking the final qualifying spot of 12th with a throw of 161'9" (49.32 meters). Hammond's mark was a personal best in her second throw of the day, erasing her previous best of 155'1" set back in 2009.
Kopplin and Hammond became the first Nevada student-athletes to qualify of the national finals since 2008. Of the Pack's 12 outdoor national qualifiers, six have competed in the javelin.
In day two of the preliminary round, senior Constance McAlman also stepped up in her final season, qualifying in the hammer. McAlman also squeaked in with the final qualifying spot, finishing 12th throwing 190'07" (58.09 meters). McAlman's best throw came in her first attempt as she committed just one foul in six throws. She now joins Hane as just the second Wolf Pack thrower in school history to qualify in the hammer.
The javelin throwers will be the first to compete as they will begin at 1:05 PDT on Thursday June 9. McAlman will then follow in the hammer on Friday, June 10 at 1 p.m. PDT. Full Nevada results from the championships will be available at the official website at www.NevadaWolfPack.com.
