Hannah Carson Finishes Runner-up in Javelin at NCAA Outdoor Championships
Texas Tech javelin thrower Hannah Carson crushed her own school record by unleashing a throw of 57.72m/189-4 Thursday at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Ore. However, it was only good enough for a second-place finish.
Carson was leading the event until Irena Sediva of Virginia Tech uncorked an unbelievable 58.76m/192-9 heave on her final attempt, overtaking Carson and winning the gold medal.
Carson actually fell down on the followthrough of her runner-up throw, which bested her previous school-record by four feet.
"We were so close to having a national champion today," Texas Tech head coach Wes Kittley said. "However, you don't get many runner-up finishes in this business either. Hannah was incredible today. This was her best series of the season by far, and she had a huge personal best throw, too. You can't ask for anything else out of her. She had a phenomenal performance."
Carson earned her third consecutive All-American honors and second straight year to named first team.
Two other Red Raider women earned All-American designations on Thursday as well. Senior Cierra White finished 13th in the 100-meter event posting a time of 11.26 seconds. Montene Speight place 16th in the 400-meter dash clocking a 53.42 effort.
Speight is the first Tech woman to finish in the top 16 at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 400 meters since 2005.
White turned in the second-fastest time in school history in a qualifying heat of the 200-meter dash turning in a 22.65 second effort. She will have a chance to win the national title in Saturday’s finals.
LeTristan Pledger finished 18th in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 13.28, and earned second team All-American honors by turning a 6.13m/20-1.5 jump to finish 16th in the long jump.
Gionna Jackson brings home honorable mention honors by finishing 19th in the triple jump with a leap of 6.05m/19-10.25.
Tech’s men return to action Friday led by the high jumping trio of JaCorian Duffield, Bradley Adkins, from Idalou, and Lubbock Coronado’s Trey Culver at 6 p.m. CDT and discus thrower Kole Weldon at 6:05 p.m.