SUU T&F - Koplin Heading to NCAA Championships Add Comment    Jun 10, 2010

CEDAR CITY, Utah - June 7 - Kristi Koplin will represent Southern Utah University on Thursday afternoon when the senior competes in the womens hammer throw at the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon.

This is an incredible opportunity for Kristi to compete at the national championships, head coach Eric Houle said.  She is only one of 24 athletes in the entire nation that will compete in the event.  We are a little disappointed that we couldnt have more athletes representing SUU this year, but know that Kristi will be a great ambassador for our program and the University.

Koplin qualified for the meet by way of an eighth-place finish at the NCAA West Preliminaries in Austin, Texas, throwing a mark of 190 feet 10 inches.  She narrowly missed qualifying for a second event, finishing 14th in the womens discus with a mark of 162 feet 11 inches.  Koplin was a mere nine inches from finishing in the top 12 of the event, a spot that would have meant a second NCAA berth.

Koplin is the second female student-athlete for the SUU track and field team to qualify for a national championship this season as Sharla Manuele qualified in the mile during the indoor season.  Cameron Levins also qualified for the Thunderbird men during the indoor season, also competing in the mile, having run Southern Utahs first sub four-minute mile this past winter.

Koplin will enter the NCAA Championships will a plethora of achievements under her belt, including the top mark of the Thunderbirds this season in the womens hammer (196-7) and discus (162-11) and school records in both disciplines with career-best marks of 196 feet seven inches in the hammer and 165 feet one inch in the discus.

More than 300 Division I institutions sponsor outdoor track & field with more than 1,000 athletes competing all over the nation.  The 2010 Outdoor Track and Field Championships will only include 178 of the eligible schools, making a spot in the championships coveted and hard to come by.

The womens hammer throw is slated for Thursday, June 10 with the event scheduled to begin at 3:00 p.m.

-Utah College Sports News staff and wire reports

Article written by

Utah College Sports Wire