EUGENE, Ore. -- Arizona State junior Anna Jelmini won her first career national championship Thursday, leading from start to finish to win the discus in the NCAA Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field.
Jelmini's winning distance of 57.95m (195 feet, 1 inch) helped her pull away from the field and remove any doubt as she beat the nearest finisher by more than five feet.
The junior was the favorite in the event as a freshman and sophomore and also led the competition through the first five rounds at those events before lpersonal bests from Northeastern State’s Tracey Rew in 2011 and San Diego State's Ashley Whitney in 2012 forced Jelmini to settle for runner-up finishes.
Jelmini answered the call on Thursday, though, and as Arizona’s Julie Labonte jumped within a couple inches of Jelmini’s early lead of 56.38m (184-11) on her fifth throw, Jelmini answered on the very next attempt with what would prove to be the winning mark.
Jelmini has now earned eight All-America honors in her career and gives Arizona State its 17th All-American in the discus and fourth national champion in the event in program history.
For throws coach David Dumble, Jelmini’s victory is the second of the weekend for the throwers following Chelsea Cassulo victory in the hammer throw.
Also on the women’s side, senior Keia Pinnick had a career-best day in the women’s heptathlon with a score of 3,530 points and currently sits fourth heading into Friday's final events. It was nearly 100 points netter than her previous first-day career best.
Pinnick finished the day 155 points behind current leader, Makeba Alcide of Arkansas.
In the women’s 1,500-meter run prelims, Shelby Houlihan paced the field for much of the race and recovered nicely when the field started to attempt to make a move around her with 200 meters left. Houlihan kicked strong for a second-place run in her heat in 4:14.61 – just two-tenths of a second behind Natalja Piliusina of Oklahoma State as the fastest time of the prelim round.
Houlihan, a sophomore, automatically advanced to Saturday’s final in the event for the first time in her young career.
In the men’s 110-meter hurdles, Cameron Taylor ran a wind-aided 13.98 and did not advanced to the final. He finished 18th overall in the prelim round.
The women’s 4x400-meter relay of Sarah Geren, Alycia Herring, Ke’Nya Hardge Brianna Tate also did not advance and finished 23rd in the preliminary round with a time of 3:39.93.
The Arizona State women are currently second through the first two days with 20 points, two points behind the leader, Kansas. The men are currently tied for seventh but have maxed out their point potential with no competitors remaining.
