Two More All-Americans on Championship's Final Day
May 29, 2018
LA CROSSE, Wis. – The University of Dubuque track and field teams wrapped up the 2018 season on Saturday with Tanasha Atwater and Rebecca Burmahl earning All-American honors in the hammer throw.
Blaze Murfin was the first of three Spartans to perform on Saturday in the hammer throw. Murfin tossed a throw of 57.17m (187-07) on his second toss of the morning to grab the ninth and final spot in the finals. He was unable to improve his mark on any of this throws in the finals to finish in ninth place, one spot away from earning another All-American honor. However, his ninth place finished capped off a historic weekend for Murfin, with three top ten finishes, a national championship in the shot put and a third place finish in the discus.
Tanasha Atwater put an exclamation point on her career with yet another All-American performance. Atwater launched a throw of 54.51m (178-10) on her second toss of the hammer to place her into sixth place heading into the finals. Atwater would scratch on her final four throws, but her mark of 54.51m held steady and was good enough for a sixth place finish. Atwater finishes her career with a national championship in the shot put in 2017, a seven-time All-American, two-time Central Regional athlete of the year, three-time Iowa Conference Field MVP and an eight-time USTFCCCA All-Central Region.
Rebecca Burmahl was right behind Atwater in the hammer, finishing seventh, to earn his first career outdoor All-American honors. Burmahl’s best throw of the prelims came in at 53.70m, the seventh best. She improved her mark to 54.18m (177-09) on his second throw of the finals, but it was not enough to catch Atwater and sealed a seventh place finish.
The UD men finished in 12th place in the team points race with 16 points, the best finish in program history. The women put up 11 team points to finish 21st, the second best finish in school history.
