Texas State's Abby Ruston Places Second in NCAA Shot Put
FRISCO, Texas - Texas State senior Abby Ruston concluded her collegiate career Saturday with an All-America performance, placing second in the shot put at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
Ruston, a native of San Antonio, had a mark of 17.44 meters (57-02.75) on her next to last attempt in the finals to capture second place.
She opened the finals with a throw of 17.13 meters. It was the only 17+ meter throw of the first of six rounds in Saturday's finals. Ruston also had a mark of 17.40 meters on her third throw which kept her in the event lead while the 17.44 meter throw during the fifth round increased her lead.
Arizona State's Jessica Pressley would come on in the later rounds and top Ruston's mark with a throw of 18.00 meters (59-00.75) on her fifth attempt. Pressley began the competition with throws of 16.19, 15.97 and 17.07 meters. She would register a mark of 17.23 meters on her fourth attempt before her championship throw.
Ruston would foul on her final attempt but her podium performance was secured.
Sarah Stevens, a teammate of Pressley's at Arizona State, would place third with a mark of 17.40 meters. Rounding out the top five was Texas A&M's Kacey Onwuchekwa and Texas' Michelle Carter.
NORTHWESTERN STATE
Northwestern State junior Cody Fillinich finished fourth Friday night in the javelin at the 2007 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, earning him All-America honors for the third straight year as he led four state athletes in the 12-man final.
North Carolina senior Justin Ryncavage successfully defended his NCAA title with a 241-5 throw, followed by teammate Adam Montague (236-1), Cal Poly-SLO senior Aris Borjas (234-4) and Fillinich (230-5), a junior from Cut Off-South Lafourche.
McNeese freshman Chris Hill was fifth at 229-4, followed by LSU sophomore Chad Radgowski in sixth at 225-11. LSU freshman Preston Chatham took 10th in 212-3.
The fourth-place finish was the best showing at the NCAA Outdoors by a Northwestern competitor since future Olympian LaMark Carter was fourth in the triple jump at the 1994 national meet. Lady Demon standout Stephanie Sowell took second in the long jump at the 2004 NCAA Indoors.
He won the 46th All-America honor for Northwestern in the 25 years Leon Johnson has been track and field coach.
Fillinich became the 10th three-time All-American in NSU track and field history, joining high jumper Brian Brown (six-time), Sowell (four), 2004 Olympic triple jumper Kenta Bell (three), Carter (three), sprinter Ronnie Powell (three), high jumper Terrence Bean (three), triple jumper Eric Lancelin (three), long jumper Llewellyn Starks (three), sprinter Mark Duper (three), and long jumper Mike Brown (three). Brown is the only NSU competitor to earn All-America honors all four seasons he competed for the Demons, adding two indoor awards, including the 1990 NCAA Indoor high jump title.
This marks the ninth time in 10 years Northwestern has had either a male or female javelin thrower reach the NCAA Outdoor Championships. All of the athletes have been Louisiana prep products and four previously -- Fillinich, Latrell Frederick, Regina Roe and Samantha Ford -- have won All-America honors.
SAM HOUSTON STATE
Jennie Sewell became the fourth Sam Houston State track and field athlete to earn NCAA Division I All-America honors Friday night as the senior from Rockwall tied for fifth place in the women's pole vault finals the the NCAA outdoor track and field championship.
Sewell vaulted 13 feet, 3.5 inches to tie with Ashley McAllister of BYU and Kate Sultanova of Kansas. April Kubishta of Arizona State won the NCAA women's pole vault championship with a mark of 13 feet, 11.25 inches (4.05 meters).
Sewell's fifth place finish ties as Sam Houston's best individual NCAA national finish. Roshunda Betts placed fifth in the javelin in 2006.
Sewell joins Betts, Precious Madison (long jump in 2001), and Adrian Ray (110 hurdls in 2003) as Sam Houston State's NCAA Division I All-Americans.
Matt Adkisson, who qualified for the men's pole vault finals Wednesday, no heighted on his first three attempts in the 16-man field in Friday's finals.
Sewell cleared the first two heights of the day -- 3.90 meters and 4.05 meters -- before failing on three attempts at 4.15 meters. Jody Unger of Arkansas (13' 11.25") was runner-up on the basis of misses. Brysun Stately of Nebraska and Rudy Elouise of Montana State, both cleared 4.15 meters (13' 7.25").
TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI
A night after teammate Shadrack Songok won the first national title in school history by winning the 10,000-meter run, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi sophomore Hickel Woolery's run at the NCAA Championship came to an end as he placed 11th in the country in the finals of the discus Friday evening.
Woolery, who was making his first trip to the national meet, was 11th after his first three throws with just the top nine advancing. The Jamaican fouled on his first throw before throwing the discus 50.0 meters on his second attempt. His third attempt was 48.96.
Woolery advanced to the finals after placing tenth in the preliminaries with a throw of 57.09 meters. His throw was just shy of the 57.13 meters he tossed the discus to place third at the NCAA Regional in setting a school record two weeks ago. The regional was his first competition in over a month and he broke his previous school record of 56.03 at the meet.
TEXAS-SAN ANTONIO
UTSA senior Ryanne Dupree added a fourth All-America certificate to her collection with a sixth-place finish in the heptathlon on Friday at the NCAA Outdoor Championships held at Alex G. Spanos Sports Complex.
Dupree posted a top-eight finish in this event for the third time in her career, scoring 5,773 points for sixth among 27 student-athletes in the grueling, two-day competition. The San Antonio East Central product finished seventh in 2004 and eighth in 2005 and also registered a career-best fourth-place showing in the pentathlon at the 2006 NCAA Indoor Championships.
Dupree entered Friday in fifth place with 3,537 points scored in the first four events on Thursday. She remained in fifth after a 19-5 1/4 effort in the long jump that was 12th among the field. Dupree moved into fourth place after uncorking a 122-0 throw in the javelin, which gave her 4,975 points through six events.
A neck-and-neck competition throughout, Dupree covered two laps on Sacramento State's Hornet Stadium track in 2:21.90 to earn 798 points. Her final tally of 5,773 points put her sixth in the standings, just 21 points behind Ashley Selig of Nebraska (5,794) and 24 behind day-one leader Gaelle Niare of SMU (5,797).
Jacquelyn Johnson of Arizona State successfully defended her title with 5,984 points, while Julie Pickler of Washington State used a strong 800m to vault into second with 5,831. Jillian Drouin of Syracuse took third with 5,822. A mere 88 points separated places three through eight as Bettie Wade of Michigan (5,724) and Gayle Hunter of Penn State (5,711) were right behind Dupree. National leader Diana Pickler of Washington State (6,204) was disqualified in the 200m on Thursday, but still finished the competition in 24th with 4,926.
With her sixth-place finish, Dupree picked up her third outdoor and fourth overall All-America certificate. That ranks second all-time in track awards among UTSA female athletes behind seven-time All-American Tameka Roberts (1995-97) and just ahead of three-time winner Jody Dunston (1989), who also earned two All-America nods in cross country in 1987-88.