Rew wins discus at 2011 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships
DES MOINES, Iowa - Winning on her final throw of the competition, Northwestern State senior Trecey Rew claimed the women's discus title Wednesday afternoon at the 2011 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, giving Northwestern State its third NCAA national championship in the sport and becoming the 21st athlete in Southland Conference history to win an oudoor national championship.
Rew recorded a career-best throw of 192 feet, 4 inches to surge from fourth to first on the next-to-last toss in the competition. After she took the lead, she had to withstand the final try by the previous leader, Anna Jelimi of Arizona State, who bettered her previous mark of 189-0 with a 190-2 throw that was not enough to overtake Rew.
Rew's national title goes alongside the 1990 NCAA Indoor high jump crown won with a 7-8 1/2 leap by Brian Brown, and the 1981 national championship in the 4x100 meter relay by Mario Johnson, Joe Delaney, Victor Oatis and Mark Duper.
Rew's victory is also the first women's Southland Conference outdoor national title since Inez Turner of Texas State won the 800 meter run in 1995.
Rew had the three best throws of her career Wednesday, saving the best for last. On that one, she threw exactly 12 feet past her previous personal best entering the competition.
"I knew it was the last throw of my collegiate career and I just had to put a finish on it. And it just worked out for me," Rew said said. "I just stayed calm and I worked on my technique like I've been doing. But I just added a little aggression to it and it paid off."
After the qualifying round of three throws, she ranked second with a new school record, 181-5, on her second attempt. That improved her two-week-old Northwestern mark of 180-4, and gave her confidence heading into what proved to be a dramatic finish.
"That was always the plan to be very technical first and go ahead and secure marks. I came out and executed exactly how my coach (Mike Heimerman) wanted me to in the prelims," said Rew. "Thank goodness something happened for me in the finals because so many of the girls made huge jumps. The atmosphere for competition was really great and I think that's really what gave me the motivation to keep trying."
The field was whittled from 24 down to nine finalists for the last three throws. Rew dipped a spot to third when Tennessee's Annie Alexander, the top seed, unleashed a 188-9 throw to replace Jelmini's 187-4 as the leader after round four.
In the fifth round, Rew hit another big mark, going 186-2, but it didn't move her up in the standings although Jelmini regained the lead by throwing 189-0. Again, Rew slipped in the standings early in the sixth and final round, when SMU's Simone du Toit edged past by three inches for third place, recording a 186-5 mark.
Stepping into the discus ring for the final time, Rew uncorked the throw of the day, flying by Jelmini's leading mark by over three feet.
Jelmini, a freshman, nearly replied in kind on the last attempt of the competition. She threw 190-2.
"Then I became the biggest cheerleader in the stadium," said Heimerman. "It got pretty boisterous. Our goal was to win a national championship. We knew Trecey could do it, that she had those big throws within her. Today she had the best series of her life. Right time, right place, NCAA champ."
Rew had clinched first-team All-America honors by advancing to the final, her second All-America accolades to go with those she earned with a ninth-place finish last year in the shot put. The Garland, Texas, native will enter Saturday's shot put competition as the ninth seed with her 54-8 season's best. She holds the school record at 54-11 1/2 in 2010.
Southeastern Louisiana's Kovey Simmons and Texas State's Logan Cunningham finished in a four-way tie for fourth place in the men's pole vault with a distance of 17-2.75 to earn All-American accolades.
UT Arlington's Clayton Vaughn barely missed out in advancing to the finals in the 100m, but was still able to earn All-American status with a ninth place finish time of 10.36. UTA's Cordero Gray also competed in the 100m but was unable to advance after finishing 11th in a time of 10.38. Gray will get another opportunity in tomorrow's 200m prelims at 5:45 p.m.
UTA was also represented in the men's 400m relay and finished 13th in a time of 39.62. Northwestern State also participated in the 400m relay and placed 18th with a mark of 39.88.
UTA's Ivan Storic recorded a distance of 218-7 in the javelin, good enough for 19th place.
Lamar's Tom Wade just missed out on qualifying for the finals of the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase. Wade, who was one of 24 competitors in the event, turned in a time of 8
minutes, 54.73 seconds to finish eighth in his 12-man heat.