A 40-Foot All-American
Hilary Thompson finally captured the elusive All-American honor by completely obliterating the school record in the triple jump in the final meet of her career.
DELAWARE, Ohio (5/24/14)—If you look up the cliché "saving the best for last" in the dictionary you will now find Hilary Thompson's picture under the definition. The senior finally captured her elusive All-American honor by shattering the school record in the final meet of her career.
Thompson's record-setting performance earned her third place in the triple jump at the NCAA Outdoor Championship Meet at Ohio Wesleyan University.
Thompson was making her fourth appearance at an NCAA National Meet and was still searching for her first top 8 finish which earns All-American honors. She entered the meet seeded 15th in the triple jump with a qualifying mark of 38-09.00.
Thompson made Concordia school history by becoming the first female athlete to surpass the 40-foot mark when she jumped 40-00.75 in her third attempt in the preliminary round. Thompson leapt right past the 39-foot plateau and soared into the lead at the national meet after the prelims. She was unable to better her 40-foot jump in the finals and finished in third place in the event.
Thompson joined teammate Cherae Reeves on the award stand at the 2014 NCAA National Meet. Both athletes finished third in their events and helped the Cobbers finish in a tie for 18th place in the final team standings.
Thompson also earns the 18th outdoor All-American honor for Concordia since 2000. It also marks the seventh time in the past 20 seasons that the Cobbers have had multiple All-Americans at the same national outdoor meet.
A pair of other Concordia athletes was also in action on the final day of the 2014 NCAA National Outdoor Meet. Hillary Birchem dramatically improved on her seed position in the discus. She entered the meet seeded 18th and proceeded to finish in the No.11 spot by posting a near "personal record" distance of 145-08. Birchem narrowly missed making the finals in the event. She was in position to make the finals until the last round of the second flight of preliminary throws when she was bumped from the final 9.
Birchem's 11th-place finish is her best in her three trips to the NCAA Outdoor National Meet.
Olivia Johnson capped her two-event national meet by competing in the javelin. Johnson stayed true to her season-long form of posting her best distance in the final round of prelims. She had a mark of 121-07 and finished in 22nd place in the event.
RECENT COBBER NCAA OUTDOOR ALL-AMERICANS
2014 - Hilary Thompson, Cherae Reeves
2013 - Kaari Jensen, Cherae Reeves
2012 - Kaari Jensen
2010 - Leah Kay
2009 - Leah Kay
2008 - Leah Kay
2007 - Heather Schuster
2006 - Angie Pfeiffer, Natalie Hanson
2005 - Nicole Plante
2004 - Angie Pfeiffer, Amy Ravenhorst, Alissa Bilden, Kelly Olson
2003 - Angie Pfeiffer
2002 - Kelli Tranby
2000 - Maria DeBoer
1999 - Maria DeBoer
1998 - Maria DeBoer, Laura Utke, Becky Kearns
1997 - Renee Erickson
1996 - Renee Erickson
1995 - Renee Erickson, Tracy Bernsten
1994 - Renee Erickson, Tracy Bernsten, Merrilee Rutherford