NCAA Women’s Hammer — Ratcliffe Calm Amid Sturm & Drang

After the thunder and lightning stopped Stephanie Ratcliffe whirled a long first throw. (KIRBY LEE/IMAGE OF SPORT)

HARVARD SOPH Stephanie Ratcliffe bettered her own Australian Record to win the hammer with a first-round throw of 241-7 (73.63). She had set her previous NR 2 weeks earlier when she headed the East Regional with a collegiate-leading mark of 239-10 (73.11).

Lightning and rains created an hour delay for the first flight. Leading that group was Texas State senior Elísabet Rut Rúnarsdóttir with a second-round 213-0 (64.93). She improved to 219-9 (66.98) later in the day to finish 7th, the only first-flight thrower to advance to the final three rounds.

Flight 2 brought out the top-seeded dozen. The first thrower, Rice senior Tara Simpson-Sullivan, immediately took the lead with a 216-6 (66.00) effort. Two throwers later, Emma Robbins of Kansas State set a PR, grabbing the lead at 229-3 (69.89). After one more thrower, Cal’s Anna Purchase kept the hot throwing going as she pushed the lead to 234-5 (71.47).

Ratcliffe, wearing a black uniform with the large crimson H, stepped into the ring after two more throwers and calmly unleashed her winning 241-7 (73.63). Soon after, Auburn senior Madi Malone also threw a PR, her 237-4 (72.35) moving her into 2nd.

After Malone’s throw, none of the first 5 places changed positions through the remaining 5 rounds. Malone and Simpson-Sullivan managed to improve on their marks, Malone by an inch to 237-5 (72.37) and Simpson-Sullivan to 219-10 (67.00).

All the competition’s thunder and lightning had come in the first round. Who knows whether it was the pent-up emotion that fueled the round or Ratcliffe icing the competition with her first-round CL that clamped down on the remaining throws.

Ratcliffe, excited by her win, nonetheless focused on maintaining calm throughout the competition and particularly on her first throw, explaining “It felt really good.

“Honestly, my goal [in meets] is just to get a decent throw that’ll make it to the finals. That’s usually my strategy. So, it’s exciting to be able to get it really far on that first throw, and I did a pretty good job of not getting too excited. I just tried to stay calm.”


WOMEN’S HAMMER RESULTS

(June 08)

1. **Stephanie Ratcliffe’ (Harv-Aus) 241-7 (73.63) NR (CL) (5, x C; 3, 10 NCAA)

(241-7, f, 239-0, f, 234-3, f) (73.63, f, 72.86, f, 71.40, f);

2. Madi Malone (Aub) 237-5 (72.37) PR (7, x C, NCAA)

(237-4, 233-5, 235-7, 235-3, 236-3, 237-5) (72.35, 71.14, 71.81, 71.71, 72.01, 72.37);

3. Anna Purchase’ (Cal-GB) 234-5 (71.47) (10, x NCAA)

(234-5, f, f, f, f, 217-0) (71.47, f, f, f, f, 66.15);

4. *Emma Robbins (KsSt) 229-3 (69.89)

(229-3, 219-10, 218-1, f, 220-8, 220-3) (69.89, 67.01, 66.48, f, 67.27, 67.14);

5. Tara Simpson-Sullivan’ (Rice-GB) 219-10 (67.00)

(216-6, 215-9, 205-1, 219-10, f, f) (66.00, 65.77, 62.51, 67.00, f, f);

6. Shey Taiwo (Ms) 219-9 (66.99)

(213-0, 211-10, 219-9, 208-7, 218-4, 205-11) (64.93, 64.56, 66.99, 63.58, 66.56, 62.77);

7. ***Elísabet Rut Rúnarsdóttir’ (TxSt-Ice) 219-9 (66.98) NR

(203-3, 213-0, 205-10, 201-6, 214-5, 219-9) (61.97, 64.93, 62.75, 61.43, 65.37, 66.98);

8. Taylor Gorum (Al) 218-6 (66.60) PR

(210-5, 216-0, 218-6, 212-6, 208-0, 200-7) (64.15, 65.85, 66.60, 64.79, 63.40, 61.14);

9. *Shelby Moran (Or) 217-5 (66.28); 10. Ana da Silva’ (Ga-Bra) 211-11 (64.60) PR; 11. Mayyi Mahama (UCLA) 211-10 (64.57); 12. Amanda Howe (Ia) 209-3 (63.79); 13. ***Audrey Jacobs’ (Cal-Neth) 209-2 (63.77); 14. **Marie Forbes’ (Clem-Jam) 208-9 (63.62); 15. **Guðrún Hallgrímsdóttir’ (VaC-Ice) 208-9 (63.62); 16. Makenna Wilson (NnIa) 207-9 (63.32); 17. **Kali Terza (KennSt) 205-5 (62.63); 18. *Samantha Kunza (Al) 203-1 (61.90); 19. *Chandler Hayden (Tn) 201-8 (61.47); 20. *Lydia Knapp (SD) 201-6 (61.42); 21. **Kassidy Gallagher (Ok) 198-1 (60.38); 22. Mari Shavers (NnIa) 197-9 (60.27); 23. ***Barbora Stejfová’ (VaT-CzR) 195-8 (59.65); 24. *Amber Simpson’ (Mem-GB) 194-4 (59.24). ◻︎