IT’S A FIELD EVENT truism: It only takes one. Mackenzie Little was grateful for that. The Stanford senior mostly had a subpar day, but the 22-year-old Australian’s first toss made all the rest moot, both for herself and her competitors. The defending champion threw down the gauntlet early with a 195-0 (59.44) and no one came even close to picking it up. Auburn junior Kylee Carter got closest, but her final-round 185-0 (56.40) was not a real threat. Bronze went to North Carolina frosh Madison Wiltrout at 181-1 (55.21).
“It feels great,” Little said of her successful defense. “It’s awesome. I’m really lucky and I have a great team. I’m glad I could be here again another year healthy and competing and it was the best way to finish my Stanford career. I couldn’t be happier.” (continued below)
Mackenzie Little of @StanfordXCTF had only one throw up to her usual standard, but that was more than enough to win the #NCAATF javelin. More later at https://t.co/PK8c7qRuK7 pic.twitter.com/yxl4Z9s5tX
— Track and Field News (@tandfn) June 7, 2019
Little came into the meet as the only competitor owning a best over 60m (196-10), but said retaining her throne was not without pressure. “You know, I’ve had probably the best season consistency-wise in my life but there’s been a couple of shaky meets, and there’s a lot of things I want to do and a lot of people that I want to impress that have given me so much, and I want to give back to them. So there’s a lot of emotions and I was nervous.”
Her season may have been consistent, but not on this day. If not for that first toss, she would have finished just 5th. Her next-best heave was 176-0 (53.64), and at one point went as low as 163-9 (49.91). “I would have preferred to be more consistent today,” she admitted. “It was just something else. No one actually changed positions at all after we started the finals. It was an interesting day. I don’t know what to say about that. It’s hard to be really mentally focused all the time and I didn’t do it today. I have goals that I want to throw further and do better and keep improving, and so I’ll take away what I can from today.” For the rest of the summer, Little said she’s heading back Down Under to compete in the Oceania Championships and hopefully the World University Games – and to chase a World Championships qualifier.
NCAA WOMEN’S JAVELIN RESULTS
FINAL
(June 07)
1. Mackenzie Little’ (Stan) 195-0 (59.44)
(195-0, 175-9, 173-3, 163-9, 164-7, 176-0) (59.44, 53.57, 52.80, 49.91, 50.17, 53.64);
2. *Kylee Carter (Aub) 185-0 (56.40)
(175-4, 183-0, 170-8, 174-5, 182-6, 185-0) (53.45, 55.78, 52.03, 53.17, 55.64, 56.40);
3. ***Madison Wiltrout (NC) 181-1 (55.21)
(162-8, 181-1, 160-0, 157-7, 169-0, 173-5) (49.58, 55.21, 48.76, 48.05, 51.52, 52.86);
4. *Jenna Gray (Stan) 179-9 (54.79)
(178-11, 175-4, 167-4, 179-9, 176-1, f) (54.55, 53.44, 51.01, 54.79, 53.68, f);
5. Chase Wolinski (Nb) 176-4 (53.75)
(f, 163-11, 176-4, f, 173-4, f) (f, 49.96, 53.75, f, 52.85, f);
6. **Sophia Rivera (Mo) 175-0 (53.34)
(f, 166-11, 175-0, 158-7, 162-5, 172-11) (f, 50.88, 53.34, 48.35, 49.50, 52.72);
7. **Laura Paredes’ (FlSt) 174-3 (53.13)
(174-3, 163-5, 171-8, 166-1, 167-6, 167-10) (53.13, 49.81, 52.33, 50.63, 51.06, 51.17);
8. **Samantha Zelden (Al) 173-7 (52.91) PR
(166-10, 159-6, 173-7, 164-9, 157-10, f) (50.86, 48.63, 52.91, 50.23, 48.12, f);
9. **Maura Fiamoncini (Buck) 172-9 (52.66);
10. *Danielle Collier (M/O) 168-0 (51.21);
11. *Sarah Blake (MsSt) 167-4 (51.00);
12. *Mona Jaidi’ (Mem) 167-2 (50.95);
13. Ashley Pryke’ (Mem) 162-0 (49.39);
14. Brittni Wolczyk’ (Nb) 161-9 (49.30);
15. **Sydney Otto (Nb) 160-11 (49.05);
16. *Seri Geisler (AzSt) 160-4 (48.87);
17. **Keira McCarrell’ (Or) 160-2 (48.82);
18. Madalaine Stulce (TxAM) 149-6 (45.56);
19. Danielle Konopelski (WF) 148-4 (45.21);
20. ***Akealy Moton (NDSt) 144-5 (44.02);
21. *Sara Phelan (StF) 140-6 (42.82);
22. **Virginia Miller (Stan) 128-9 (39.24);
23. **Danielle Steff (Monm) 126-0 (38.41);… dnc—***Stella Weinberg (CSN).
