Ewen on her way to another memorable trifecta

Along with hammer throw record, Arizona State junior places sixth in shot put in pursuit of securing All-America honors in three events; Virginia Tech's Sediva repeats in javelin, with Kent State's Thomas and Kentucky's Gruver both securing historic championships

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Maggie Ewen had already made history once at Hayward Field this year by becoming the first female athlete in the Pac-12 Conference to win the hammer throw, shot put and discus throw in the same championship meet.

All it took was one throw Thursday for the Arizona State junior to deliver another historical achievement at the NCAA Division 1 Outdoor Championships.

Ewen broke the collegiate hammer throw record with a third-round effort of 240 feet, 7 inches (73.32m), improving to No. 3 in the U.S. and 10th in the world this year.

"It means a lot. It's been something we've been trying to hit all year, and in-the-back-of-our-minds kind of thing. It meant a lot to do it here too and win the championship. It feels great," said Ewen, who eclipsed the 2007 mark of 239-3 (72.94m) held by Georgia's Jenny Dahlgren.

"Whatever would have broke it would have been awesome, but I think 73 meters was kind of what we wanted."

Ewen's performance also surpassed last year's mark of 239-9 (73.09m) set by former Southern Illinois standout DeAnna Price at the U.S. Olympic Trials, improving on her own status as the No. 8 all-time American performer.

"It's all the little cues we've been working on all year. You think about one and another goes away, but everything just kind of came together on that one," said Ewen, who became the first Arizona State standout since Chelsea Cassulo in 2013 to win a hammer throw title.

"We tried not to think about it as much as possible and just go into every competition like you're going to do what you're going to do and if it's meant to happen, it will happen. I didn't want to try to fish for it because then it seems even further away and mess with your brain, so I'm glad I finally got it."

Ewen also placed sixth in the shot put with a fifth-round mark of 57-1 (17.40m), giving her a chance to become an All-American in all three events depending on her performance in the discus Saturday.

"(The record) was always in the back of my mind, even during shot put, I was still excited about it," Ewen said. "I did what I wanted to do at this meet and whatever happens in discus is a bonus."

Jeneva McCall of Southern Illinois was the last to earn All-America honors in all three in 2010. Sarah Stevens was the last Arizona State thrower to achieve the feat in 2009.

Kent State fifth-year senior Danniel Thomas, who competes internationally for Jamaica, became the first female champion in program history with her sixth-round mark of 62-10 (19.15m) in the shot put. Two-time champion Raven Saunders of Ole Miss was fourth at 57-3.75 (17.47m).

Thomas had finished 19th in 2013, ninth in 2014 and 11th in 2015.

Virginia Tech senior Irena Sediva won her second javelin title with a fifth-round throw of 192-9 (58.76m), edging Florida's Marija Vucenovic at 192-2 (58.58m).

Sediva, who was injured last year after capturing the championship in 2015, became the first individual to win multiple javelin crowns since Oklahoma's Brittany Borman in 2011-12. She is also Virginia Tech's first female athlete to win an event twice.

Kentucky sophomore Olivia Gruver cleared 14-9 (4.50m) on her first attempt in the pole vault to win the Wildcats' first national title in any women's field event.

Gruver, who finished 21st at last year's final, edged defending-champion Lexi Weeks of Arkansas at 14-7.25 (4.45m).