2016 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championship
| Dates |
June 8-11, 2016 |
| Location |
Eugene, Ore./Tracktown, Ore. -- Hayward Field |
| Watch Live and Replay |
Link |
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Odle, Arneson Earn All-American Honors Wednesday
TRACKTOWN, Ore. Â -- Â
Damien Odle earned Second-Team All-American honors in the javelin, and
Skylar Arneson earned Honorable Mention All-American in the hammer throw at the 2016 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championship at Hayward Field.
Arneson took the early lead with his first throw of the competition at 205-6/62.65m, and improved his second throw to 206-4/62.89m before throwing 199-0/60.66m on his third try.Â
His second throw allowed him to finish in 20th, up one spot from the No. 21 where he entered the competition.
Odle threw 235-11/71.90m on his first throw of three in the opening round of the javelin competition to give him a ninth-place finish and Second-Team All-American honors. He threw 230-5/70.25m on his second throw and 220-10/67.31m on his third throw in the first round before the finals. In his final three throws, he threw 220-2/67.12m, 223-8/68.19m and 235-7/71.80m to end the competition.
Odle, a junior from Greensburg, Kan., ends the season as the school-record holder in the javelin at 240-8 which he set at the Shocker Open, the Missouri Valley Conference Champion and NCAA Second-Team All-American.
Arneson, a senior from Nickerson, Kan., completes his career as an Honorable Mention All-American, and holder of the No. 2-best hammer throw at Wichita State (208-0/63.14m) which he set in 2015.
Senior
Ashley Petersen will compete in the high jump on Saturday at 5 p.m., Central, to wrap up her career and the Shockers' participation at the 2016 Championship.
Arneson, Petersen and Odle all qualified during competition at the 2016 West Preliminaries at Rock Chalk Park.
Arneson was the first to qualify, throwing the hammer 207-7/63.28m before a weather delay forced the competition to finish the following day. Arneson's qualifying throw came on his first throw and helped him to a ninth-place finish.
Petersen was the second Shocker to qualify, and is making her second trip to the NCAA Championship to compete in the high jump. Petersen, a 2014 NCAA qualifier who was injured a year ago, cleared a personal-best height of 5-10.75/1.80m on her first try at the height to finish fourth in Lawrence. She opened the competition with the 40th-best high jump. In 2014, she no-heighted in her first trip as the lone Shocker NCAA Championship qualifier that season
The final flight of the men's javelin had just begun in Lawrence, and
Damien Odle's first throw being measured, when the meet was sent to weather delay. His throw of 233-11/71.30m sent him to the competition's lead, and ended up fourth-best and good enough to qualify for the NCAA Championship when the competition was completed after the break.
Odle is the school record-holder in the javelin, a record he set at the Shocker Open May 6 at Cessna Stadium in Wichita. His throw of 240-8/73.36m entered the Championship as the 18th-best in the NCAA. He came to WSU from Cowley County Community College where he was the National Champion in the javelin. His personal best coming to WSU was 213-8, and he has improved his throw 27 feet in a year. His high school best was 177-11 as a senior, an improvement of 63 feet in three years.
Arneson was a 2015 NCAA West Preliminary Round qualifier, but did not advance while teammate
Weston Cottrell, the school-record holder, qualified for the NCAA Championship in 2015.Â
Petersen's personal-best height of 5-10.75/1.80m that she set at the 2016 West Preliminaries is the second-best in school history. She also holds the third-best indoor height at WSU with a 5-9.75/1.77m that she set in 2014. She is a three-time Missouri Valley Conference high jump champion.
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