Complete javelin, high jump results (PDF)

PUEBLO, Colo. – When her next-to-last javelin throw hit the ground, Brittany Aanstad's first thought was that at least she would get one more try to win the national title.
 
The Seattle Pacific senior got that last try – but didn't actually need it.
 
Aanstad's fling of 168 feet, 1 inch on Saturday put her into the school record book, the conference record book and on top of the podium at the NCAA Division II Track & Field Championships.
 
“I'm as excited as heck – it was a long time coming,” Aanstad said. “That was an unreal competition. I told myself it was going to come down to who was going to be a competitor. I knew if I wanted to do a good job, I had to be a good competitor.”
 
It was redemption and then some for the Falcons star. Last year in Turlock, Calif, she came in as the top seed, but had to settle for second. On Saturday, Aanstad (Lake Stevens, Wash./Lake Stevens HS) came to the Neta and Eddie DeRose ThunderBowl as the No. 1 seed again, this time at 161 feet, 11 inches.
 
And there was no settling for anything but the gold medal.
 
 “I'm just so happy for Brittany, with the amount of work she has put in the last five years, the injuries she has overcome, and just the lasting mark she has left on our program,” Falcons head coach Karl Lerum said. “Not just with her athletic accomplishments, but all the things she brings.”
 
Aanstad's performance eclipsed the 25-year-old Seattle Pacific school record of 167-2, set by Anita Sartin in 1987. It beat the Great Northwest Athletic Conference mark of 163-6 set by Western Washington's Monika Grusezki, which gave her last year's national championship.
 
It also bettered bettered the 'B' standard for next month's United States Olympic trials.
 
“We were right across the runway from the throwers, and we weren't able to get a perspective on how far it was going,” Lerum said. “I could tell it was a good throw. It was a pretty windy competition, and the wind was pushing the javs' tails.
 
“It was a pretty big moment.”
 
The NCAA title was Seattle Pacific's first since Jessica Pixler won the third of her three 1,500-meter titles in 2010. Aanstad becomes the third NCAA javelin champion for the Falcons. Tiffany Coleman won in 1992 (165-7), and Michelle DeVries won in 1990 (163-2).
 
Aanstad started off well and got progressively better on Saturday. She opened with a 143-4½, then extended it to 145-11 and 152-3. But after both flights had completed their three preliminary rounds, Aanstad was sitting in fifth place.
 
Among those ahead of her was second-seeded Makayla McPhail of Fort Hays State (Kansas). She came into the meet with a mark of 159-4. Competing in the flight opposite of Aanstad, she launched a 160-9 on her first attempt to take the lead.
 
The significance of the moment wasn't lost on Aanstad. Last year, Western's Grusecki threw that 163-6 on her first attempt, and it stood up for the rest of the day.
 
“I was like, 'Well, that's what's going to happen. I know I have a little more in it,'” Aanstad said.
 
Aanstad began the finals with a 156-5 ½, moving up to fourth. Then came that decisive fifth try, the 168-1 that ultimately gave her the crown.
 
At the moment it landed, though, Aanstad didn't think it was even close to that far.
 
“I walked off the runway and looked over at Karl, and I was thinking, 'I have one more left,'” Aanstad said. “But Karl was clapping and the crowd was going wild, so I thought, 'Maybe it was better than I thought it was.'
 
“I'll take what I can get.”
 
Aanstad did have that final try, and it went a respectable 150-10 ½. McPhail, with the best chance of catching her, went just 158-8 with her last attempt. Western Oregon's Amanda Schumaker, who beat Aanstad for the Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship two weeks ago in Monmouth, Ore., delivered her best throw on the last try, but it went just 158-5.
 
The title was Aanstad's. The elbow surgery after freshman year that eventually forced her to redshirt in 2009, the back injury that she had to deal with, last year's disappointment at nationals – the memories of all those things were now shoved forcefully aside.
 
“Last year, I wasn't ready for big throws,” Aanstad said. “This year, I said that it's nationals and people show up to throw and compete no matter what position they're in. It was about being a competitor and holding my composure the whole time.”
 
SPU's Ali Worthen finished her meet on Saturday with a 20^th-place finish in the high jump at 5 feet, 5 inches. On Friday, Worthen came from behind to grab the bronze medal in the heptathlon with a career-best total of 5,297 points.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD
NCAA Division II Championships
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Neta and Eddie DeRose ThunderBowl / Pueblo, Colo.
 
High jump – 1, Susan Jackson (Western State) 5-11 ½ / 1.82m. SPU placer – 20, Ali Worthen 5-5 / 1.65m.
Javelin – 1, Brittany Aanstad (SPU) 168-1 / 51.24m. No other SPU competitors.