Cooper finishes third in hammer at NCAA championships

Winthrop junior throws specialist Marthaline Cooper broke her own school hammer throw record en route to a third-place finish at the 2016 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The Rhode Island native’s first toss Thursday afternoon at Hayward Field flew a school-record toss of 65.21 meters (213 feet, 11 inches).

Cooper’s third place marks the highest finish ever for a Winthrop athlete in the NCAA Track and Field Championships, both indoor and outdoor. It also earned her outdoor field All-American honors for the second straight year and increased her total All-American awards to three. Cooper earned that recognition at the 2016 indoor championships in Birmingham, Ala., back in February.

Cooper’s best throw came on her first effort of the day and the third in the competition in which she was paired with 11 other athletes in the top flight. That distance surpassed her previous best throw of 64.36 meters, set during her first outdoor meet this past season. It also vaulted her into the hammer throw finals, which included the top nine distances from the 24 competitors who qualified two weeks ago at the East and West Preliminary rounds.

Following her first throw, Cooper made five other tosses, but the closest she came to matching her record was 63.19 meters on her third throw.

Southern Illinois senior and defending NCAA hammer throw champion DeAnna Price broke the NCAA meet record she set in 2015 by throwing the implement 71.49 meters (234 feet, 6 inches) to better her record by two inches. The second place finisher with a distance of 65.61 meters (215 feet, 3 inches) was Sara Savatovic, a senior from Kansas State.

Of the 10 top finishers, five were seniors, including four of the top five, Cooper the lone exception.

This story was originally published June 10, 2016 at 9:30 AM with the headline "Cooper finishes third in hammer at NCAA championships."