Atwater A National Champion, Link and Murfin All-Americans
May 26, 2017
GENEVA, Ohio – Through the first two days of the 2017 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Champions, the Spartans have had one national champion in Tanasha Atwater and three All-Americans.
After finishing in third place last year in the shot put, Tanasha Atwater took her performance to another level this year, throwing a school and stadium, record throw of 15.09m. (49-06.25). Atwater led for most the meet as she had a toss of 14.23m on her first throw. It was on her fourth throw where she launched the throw of 15.09 to seal the national championship. Atwater is the first national champion in UD women’s track and field program history.
For the second straight year, UD thrower Alex Link has collected All-American honors in the discus throw at the 2017 NCAA Division III Track and Field Championships. After finishing in seventh place at the 2016 National Championships, Link placed second in the discus throw on Thursday at the National Championships.
Link was in second place after the prelims and saved his best throw for his last toss in the finals where he launched a throw of 51.21m (168-00) to seal his position in second place. Link finished right behind the winner who threw 51.56m (169-02).
Blaze Murfin became the second Spartan to become an All-American on the weekend with his performance on Friday morning. Murfin came in eighth place in the men’s shot put, with a best throw of 16.28m (53-05.00) on his third attempt. This is Murfin’s third All-American honor as he was an Indoor All-American this season in the shot put and weight throw.
Fabiola Oritz raced out in heat one of the 3,000m Steeplechase prelims to win the heat in a time of 10:57.19. Oritz will run in the finals of the 3,000m Steeplechase on Saturday at 11:30 a.m.
The Spartans will have three people competing on Saturday.
Tanasha Atwater - Hammer at 10:30 a.m.
Fabiola Ortiz – 3000m Steeplechase at 11:30 a.m.
Blaze Murfin - Hammer at 1:30 p.m.
Live Video: http://www.ncaa.com/liveschedule
Live Stats: http://results.deltatiming.com/ncaa/tf/2017-ncaa-d3-outdoor-championships
