THIS WENT VERY DIFFERENTLY from the men’s discus, where Ralford Mullings waited until the final throw of the day before smashing the Meet Record. In the women’s comp, Fresno State’s Cierra Jackson took care of that on her first attempt, a 215-11 (65.82) PR that added nearly a meter to Jorinde Van Klinken’s 213-3 (65.01) MR from ’21.
Few saw it coming.
Jackson, a senior who had placed 8th in the shot on Thursday, came in with a checkered discus past. During a breakthrough season in ’22, she fouled out at the NCAA. The following March, Jackson lifted her PR to 199-4 (60.77), then finished only 34th at the Regional. The horror continued at the ’24 Regional, where she did not record a mark. In March of this year, she raised her PR to 211-4 (64.42), went 205-11 (62.76) a week later, then had three disastrous outings including 121-0 (36.89) at the Mountain West. At the West Regional, she was sitting in 46th until popping 201-0 (61.27) for the win on her third and final attempt.
Jackson, though slotted 3rd on our formchart, was also overshadowed by the return of last year’s 2nd–4th-finishers, Jayden Ulrich of Louisville, Alida van Daalen of Florida and Shelby Frank, currently representing Texas Tech. Each was having an outstanding season.
All of the aforementioned were throwing in flight 2. Auburn’s Adrienne Adams and Virginia’s Estel Valeanu got the party started in flight 1 with PRs of 198-8 (60.55) and 191-0 (58.22). Then flight 2 began and Jackson, ninth in the order, dropped her nuke.
There’s nothing like getting kicked really hard in the face when the competition has barely begun, and it took Frank and van Daalen until the later rounds to recover. Ulrich, unfortunately, never did. The formchart favorite and CR-holder — with 227-8 (69.39) from Ramona — Ulrich followed her 197-8 (60.25) opener with 195-8 (59.65) and 4 fouls.
Frank, who had placed 2nd in the hammer earlier, PRed with 207-11 (63.37) in round 4, and van Daalen took her shot with a 213-1 (64.94) round fiver.
That’s as close as anyone could come to Jackson, who reverted to old habits the rest of the way: 192-5 (58.65) and 4 fouls. As they say though, it only takes one.
Jackson’s coach, Joe Riccio, attributed her breakthrough to two factors. Jackson’s setup at the start of the throw, which they modified earlier in the season, and her belief in herself, something that Riccio worked hard to cultivate these past 4 years. “The hardest part of coaching,” Riccio opined after the comp, “is getting them to believe how great they are. Compared to that, the technical stuff and the lifting are easy.”
What worked on her MR opener? “It was mostly the middle of the throw,” Jackson said. “So I did perfect on that one. I know what I have to do going into my next competition.”
WOMEN’S DISCUS RESULTS
FINAL (June 14)
1. Cierra Jackson (Fres) 215-11 (65.82) PR (6, x C) MR
(215-11, 192-5, f, f, f, f) (65.82, 58.65, f, f, f, f);
2. *Alida van Daalen’ (Fl-Neth) 213-1 (64.94)
(199-8, f, 209-4, f, 213-1, f) (60.86, f, 63.82, f, 64.94, f);
3. Shelby Frank (TxT) 207-11 (63.37) PR
(198-3, f, f, 207-11, 199-10, f) (60.42, f, f, 63.37, 60.91, f);
4. Caisa-Marie Lindfors’ (Cal-Swe) 205-3 (62.57) PR
(184-11, 198-5, 198-3, 195-4, 195-7, 205-3) (56.37, 60.49, 60.43, 59.55, 59.61, 62.57);
5. Amanda Ngandu-Ntumba’ (Cinc-Fra) 199-4 (60.77)
(195-2, 192-0, 194-1, f, f, 199-4) (59.49, 58.53, 59.16, f, f, 60.77);
6. Adrienne Adams’ (Aub-Jam) 198-8 (60.55) PR
(188-2, 192-9, 198-8, 190-5, f, f) (57.36, 58.75, 60.55, 58.05, f, f);
7. Jayden Ulrich (Louis) 197-8 (60.25)
(197-8, 195-8, f, f, f, f) (60.25, 59.65, f, f, f, f);
8. Michaelle Valentin’ (FlInt-Hai) 195-9 (59.67)
(f, 191-8, 195-9, f, f, f) (f, 58.43, 59.67, f, f, f);
9. Estel Valeanu’ (Va-Isr) 191-0 (58.22); 10. *Ines Lopez’ (AzSt-Spa) 188-2 (57.36); 11. ***Princesse Hyman’ (LSU-Fra) 185-4 (56.50) PR; 12. *Sofia Sluchaninova’ (Ks-Rus) 184-8 (56.30); 13. Zoe Burleson (TxT) 183-2 (55.83); 14. **Milina Wepiwe’ (Harv-Ger) 182-6 (55.64); 15. Jade Whitfield (Louis) 181-3 (55.25); 16. ***Donna Douglas (Tn) 180-1 (54.90); 17. *Tamaiah Koonce (KsSt) 179-11 (54.85); 18. *Krishna Jayasankar Menon (UNLV) 173-10 (52.99); 19. *Jamora Alves’ (StJ-Grn) 172-7 (52.60); 20. *Taylor Kesner (Wi) 170-7 (52.01); 21. Paige Low (Ok) 169-0 (51.53); 22. Gretchen Hoekstre (BYU) 165-7 (50.46); 23. *Angeludi Asaah (Penn) 165-1 (50.33);… 3f—*Klaire Kovatch (CoSt).
