Thursday, May 23
Lexington, Ky.
10:00 AM ET
Liberty University
at
NCAA Division I East First Rounds
Paola Bueno
Bueno Punches Ticket to Eugene in Women’s Hammer
5/23/2024 8:54:00 PM | Track and Field
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Liberty's throwers continued their impressive showing at the NCAA Division I East First Rounds meet, Thursday at the UK Track & Field Complex. Sophomore Paola Bueno successfully qualified for the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships, making it three Flames throwers who have punched their tickets to Eugene during the meet's first two days.
For the second day in a row, a Liberty thrower narrowly missed out on national qualification. Annika Hantho ended up 13th in the women's hammer, missing out on a trip to Oregon by one place and 16 inches. Fellow senior Warren Barrett had suffered a similar fate in the men's shot put on Wednesday.
Bueno will join Wednesday qualifiers John Hicks (men's hammer) and Ben Shughart (men's javelin) on the plane to Oregon, giving Liberty its most throwers at a single NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships in program history. The Flames still have a chance to add to that total, with the men's and women's discus yet to be contested in Lexington.
CUSA women's hammer champion Bueno came out firing with a round one mark of 207-3 which would have been good enough to earn her first NCAA national qualification. She then punctuated her series with a season-best 208-11 effort on the Mexico native's third and final attempt.
That was good for sixth place in the competition and fell just five inches shy of Bueno's program record of 209-4 from the 2023 Mexican Championship. Bueno will be the fourth Liberty women's hammer thrower to take part in the last 12 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships, following in the footsteps of Melinda Bendik (2012), Jocelyn Williams (2015) and Dasiana Larson (2018).
Seniors Hantho (196-1) and Megan Mann (191-6) followed in 13th and 21st place, respectively. For Hantho, it marked the end of an amazing year of improvement in the women's hammer. Entering the season, Hantho's hammer personal best stood at 170-11. She reached 199-3 earlier this season and ended up one place away from the national meet at year's end.
Mann made her long-awaited NCAA Division I East First Rounds debut on Thursday. She will have one more chance to extend her career on Saturday, competing in the women's discus at 1 p.m.
Both of the Lady Flames' competitors in the women's javelin recorded their best career finish at this meet. Liberty record holder Addilae Watts came in a team-best 21st at 151-9, improving upon her 22nd-place showing as a Youngstown State freshman in 2023. Meanwhile, Kali Grayson finished off her collegiate career with her best placement in three visits to the NCAA Division I East First Rounds meet, 30th (146-6).
All three of Liberty's runners were unable to advance to the quarterfinal round during Thursday afternoon's action on the track.
Katelyn Locker was the closest to moving on, clocking an 800 time of 2:05.85 for fifth in her heat and 28th place overall in her NCAA Division I East First Rounds debut.
Liberty's first women's 100 hurdles runner to qualify for this meet since the inaugural edition in 2010, Indea Cartwright was on the verge of becoming the Lady Flames' first-ever quarterfinalist in the event. She was running in third place before unfortunately clipping the 10th and final hurdle and falling to the track.
About an hour later, first-year Lady Flame Reese Webster saw her postseason run halted when she sustained an injury during her 100-meter heat.
Women's NCAA Division I National Qualifiers
Paola Bueno – Hammer – 208-11
Up Next
Rescheduled from Thursday due to weather concerns, the women's pole vault will now be Liberty's first Friday event. Freshman Katie Urbine will get things started at 10 a.m.
For the second day in a row, a Liberty thrower narrowly missed out on national qualification. Annika Hantho ended up 13th in the women's hammer, missing out on a trip to Oregon by one place and 16 inches. Fellow senior Warren Barrett had suffered a similar fate in the men's shot put on Wednesday.
Bueno will join Wednesday qualifiers John Hicks (men's hammer) and Ben Shughart (men's javelin) on the plane to Oregon, giving Liberty its most throwers at a single NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships in program history. The Flames still have a chance to add to that total, with the men's and women's discus yet to be contested in Lexington.
CUSA women's hammer champion Bueno came out firing with a round one mark of 207-3 which would have been good enough to earn her first NCAA national qualification. She then punctuated her series with a season-best 208-11 effort on the Mexico native's third and final attempt.
That was good for sixth place in the competition and fell just five inches shy of Bueno's program record of 209-4 from the 2023 Mexican Championship. Bueno will be the fourth Liberty women's hammer thrower to take part in the last 12 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships, following in the footsteps of Melinda Bendik (2012), Jocelyn Williams (2015) and Dasiana Larson (2018).
Seniors Hantho (196-1) and Megan Mann (191-6) followed in 13th and 21st place, respectively. For Hantho, it marked the end of an amazing year of improvement in the women's hammer. Entering the season, Hantho's hammer personal best stood at 170-11. She reached 199-3 earlier this season and ended up one place away from the national meet at year's end.
Mann made her long-awaited NCAA Division I East First Rounds debut on Thursday. She will have one more chance to extend her career on Saturday, competing in the women's discus at 1 p.m.
Both of the Lady Flames' competitors in the women's javelin recorded their best career finish at this meet. Liberty record holder Addilae Watts came in a team-best 21st at 151-9, improving upon her 22nd-place showing as a Youngstown State freshman in 2023. Meanwhile, Kali Grayson finished off her collegiate career with her best placement in three visits to the NCAA Division I East First Rounds meet, 30th (146-6).
All three of Liberty's runners were unable to advance to the quarterfinal round during Thursday afternoon's action on the track.
Katelyn Locker was the closest to moving on, clocking an 800 time of 2:05.85 for fifth in her heat and 28th place overall in her NCAA Division I East First Rounds debut.
Liberty's first women's 100 hurdles runner to qualify for this meet since the inaugural edition in 2010, Indea Cartwright was on the verge of becoming the Lady Flames' first-ever quarterfinalist in the event. She was running in third place before unfortunately clipping the 10th and final hurdle and falling to the track.
About an hour later, first-year Lady Flame Reese Webster saw her postseason run halted when she sustained an injury during her 100-meter heat.
Women's NCAA Division I National Qualifiers
Paola Bueno – Hammer – 208-11
Up Next
Rescheduled from Thursday due to weather concerns, the women's pole vault will now be Liberty's first Friday event. Freshman Katie Urbine will get things started at 10 a.m.
Players Mentioned
Throws
/ Track and Field
Hammer
/ Track and Field
Hurdles
/ Track and Field
Mid-distance
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Javelin
/ Track and Field
Pole Vault
/ Track and Field
Javelin
/ Track and Field
Sprints
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