Murfin a National Champion, Atwater an All-American
May 25, 2018
LA CROSSE, Wis. – Friday was a successful day at the Track and Field Championships for the Spartans. Blaze Murfin became the second national title in the history of the men’s program by winning the shot put. Tanasha Atwater also grabbed All-American honors by finishing third in the women’s shot put.
Blaze Murfin picked up right where he left off yesterday after earning All-American status in the discus. In his first attempt of the shot put on Friday afternoon, Murfin launched a school-record throw of 17.42m to head into the finals in second place. On his first throw of finals, Murfin tossed another school-record throw, this time a mark of 18.14m but remained in second place. On his second toss of the finals, Murfin once again came up with a school-record throw of 18.62m (61-01.25), and this time it was good enough to move him into first place heading into the final round. Murfin scratched on his final toss but none of the other throwers could top his mark of 18.62m to give Murfin the second national champion in UD men’s track and field history.
Tanasha Atwater returned to the national championships in 2018 to defend her 2017 shot put title. In prelims, Atwater’s first two throws were in the mid 13’s before launching a toss of 14.50 to bump her up into third place heading into the finals. Atwater ended up scratching on all three of her throws in the finals but despite the scratches, Atwater stayed and finished in third place to gain her third career Outdoor All-American honor.
Colfay Pointer was the lone Spartan to run on Friday, participating in the 400m run. The sophomore ran a personal best time of 47.68 but narrowly missed on qualifying for Saturday’s finals.
UD Participants on Saturday
11:00 a.m. – Blaze Murfin – Men’s Hammer Throw (Prelims/Finals)
2:00 p.m. – Tanasha Atwater and Rebecca Burmahl – Women’s Hammer Throw (Prelims/Finals)
