THUNDER, LIGHTNING, drenching rain: the hammer had it all. In a weather-delayed event that began almost 2 hours late, Cal super-soph Camryn Rogers—throwing on the eve of her 20th birthday—led from first round til last to clinch the title. The Pac-12 and West Regional champ, the favorite sealed the deal in a highly competitive field with a fourth-round PR 234-7 (71.50) that moved her to No. 7 on the all-time collegiate list, but not before several others had their say.
Canada’s World Junior champion seemed to be on her way to a dominating win until Indiana State’s Erin Reese uncorked a PR of her own, a fifth-round 231-2 (70.46) that capped her progression from 19th to 4th to 3rd to 2nd after an opening foul. Not done, Reese gave Rogers another scare with her final-toss 233-2 (71.06). She ended up as the only thrower with two marks over 70m (229-8).
“It’s kind of surreal,” said Rogers. “It still hasn’t hit me, and I don’t think it will hit me for a little bit. It’s a crazy feeling to walk out of the cage after your last throw and go hug your coach, and for me, to go hug my mum, and just see all my teammates so happy. It feels really good… Anything I can do for this awesome team is amazing.”
Alyssa Wilson was never off the podium, being 2nd or 3rd the entire competition. The UCLA soph’s 228-10 (69.75) fourth round toss moved her back into 2nd at the time, only to be surpassed by Reese’s late-meet thunder. Ohio State’s junior Sade Olatoye joined the party late as it took her several rounds to find her rhythm; her fifth-round 227-7 (69.37) left her only 15 inches shy of a place on the podium.
A surprise in only 8th was Tennessee’s Stamatia Scarvélis, the SEC and East Regional titlist, who came in undefeated with 5 wins in a row. She never improved on her second-round best of 221-9 (67.59).
NCAA WOMEN’S HAMMER RESULTS
FINAL
(June 06)
1. **Camryn Rogers’ (Cal) 234-7 (71.50) PR (CL) (7, x C; 5, 6 NCAA)
(229-7, 216-9, f, 234-7, f, 226-0) (69.99, 66.08, f, 71.50, f, 68.89);
2. Erin Reese (InSt) 233-2 (71.06) PR (AmCL) (9, x C; 6, x AmC; 6, 10 NCAA)
(f, 195-8, 224-3, 228-6, 231-2 PR [9, x AmC], 233-2) (f, 59.64, 68.36, 69.65, 70.46, 71.06);
3. **Alyssa Wilson (UCLA) 228-10 (69.75) (9, x NCAA)
(223-0, 224-8, 221-10, 228-10, 222-0, 228-0) (67.97, 68.49, 67.63, 69.75, 67.68, 69.51);
4. *Sade Olatoye (OhSt) 227-7 (69.37) PR (10, x NCAA)
(222-9, f, 221-6, f, 227-7, f) (67.89, f, 67.52, f, 69.37, f);
5. Temi Ogunrinde’ (Mn-Ngr) 225-10 (68.85) NR
(215-7, 225-10, 220-6, f, f, 207-11) (65.71, 68.85, 67.21, f, f, 63.39);
6. Molli Detloff (ND) 222-11 (67.94) PR
(217-7, 222-11, 219-0, 209-5, 211-5, 206-4) (66.32, 67.94, 66.75, 63.85, 64.45, 62.91);
7. **Beatrice Llano’ (AzSt) 222-3 (67.74)
(214-1, 216-11, 221-3, 222-3, 220-11, 214-11) (65.27, 66.12, 67.45, 67.74, 67.35, 65.52);
8. Stamatia Scarvélis’ (Tn) 221-9 (67.59)
(218-7, 221-9, 212-6, 216-4, 207-0, 220-3) (66.62, 67.59, 64.77, 65.94, 63.09, 67.13);
9. *Veronika Kaňuchová’ (FlSt) 221-0 (67.37)
(217-5, 220-6, f, 217-4, 219-11, 221-0) (66.27, 67.20, f, 66.25, 67.04, 67.37);
10. Pavla Kuklová’ (VaT) 216-6 (65.99);
11. ***Madi Malone (Aub) 214-10 (65.49) PR;
12. **Kaila Butler’ (BG) 212-1 (64.64);
13. **Shauniece O’Neal (SnIl) 211-11 (64.59);
14. *Bailey Retzlaff (NDSt) 209-7 (63.89) PR;
15. **Makenli Forrest (Louis) 205-1 (62.50);
16. Onyie Chibuogwu (Wa) 204-6 (62.33);
17. Hana Feilzer (Mt) 203-6 (62.02);
18. Stefani Vukajlović’ (Duke) 202-8 (61.79);
19. Lara Boman (SD) 202-8 (61.78);
20. Nycia Ford (In) 199-8 (60.87);
21. *Helene Ingvaldsen’ (KsSt) 199-1 (60.69);
22. Rebecca Keating’ (Mo) 193-2 (58.89);
23. Annette Echikunwoke (Cinc) 192-2 (58.57);
24. ***Mayyi Mahama (Penn) 182-6 (55.63).
(best-ever mark-for-NCAA place: 3–at least 14)◻︎
