AUSTIN, Texas – Sun Devil sophomore Samantha Noennig completed the season sweep of the NCAA shot put titles in dramatic fashion Thursday night under the lights at Mike A. Meyers Stadium in Austin, Texas.
Already the NCAA champion from the indoor season, Noennig entered the meet as the fifth seed and found herself in seventh place heading into the final, but rocketed into the lead on her fifth throw.
"The first few weren't so good and I kind of got mad and knew I needed to hit one," Noennig said. "It worked out well and I was able to pull through in the end. I wasn't about to go down easy, so I just let it happen."
The mark of 18.14m/59-6.25 feet gave her the lead by three centimeters and she held onto first place for the remainder of the competition to seal ASU's second season sweep of the shot put in the past two years.
"She's got a mental makeup like no other," Sun Devil throws coach Brian Blutreich said. "To PR in the NCAA final again, it just shows you that champions are built differently."
Noennig's win follows her trend of dramatic victories as she won the indoor title by setting a personal best and claiming the title by two centimeters on her final throw of the competition.
"It was a great end to her collegiate season," Blutreich said. "She couldn't have done much better to finish with two national championships and two conference championships. It's been a fight most of the year, but she's such a great competitor that you can never count her out."
With the 10 points from Noennig's shot put win, ASU finished the night in second place in the women's competition thanks to an additional two points from Beatrice Llano in the women's hammer throw.
"It was probably the deepest hammer competition in NCAA history," Blutreich said. "She did a fabulous job. She hasn't trained in six weeks because of a shoulder issue, so we haven't been able to lift or throw in practice, but she's been competing through the pain and it's just a testament to how tough she is."
Llano recorded a mark of 67.74m/222-3 feet to earn her second first-team All-America honor. Although the finish wasn't as high as her first honor back in 2017 (third), Llano's throw Thursday was a foot better than the mark she set at her first championship.
"Generally that throw would get you top-four, but the meet was incredible and there were a lot of great competitors today," Blutreich said. "To get seventh at the NCAA meet without being able to train for six weeks is beyond excellent."
ASU's women's throwers have produced 119 points at the NCAA Outdoor Championships for since 2009, with 58 of those points coming in the last three seasons alone with the emergence of Maggie Ewen and continued ascendance of the program under Blutreich.
Noennig's title is Blutreich's 19th as a coach and ASU's fourth outdoor shot put title in school history. The Devils are the first program since 2002 to have different athletes take back-to-back shot put titles as Ewen won the crown back in 2018.
The Sun Devil women aren't finished yet, though. The women's javelin throw was postponed due to weather, and Seri Geisler will make her NCAA Championship debut Friday afternoon.
William Paulson will be the lone Devil competing in the final day of the men's championship as he toes the line for the 1,500-meter final.
Already the NCAA champion from the indoor season, Noennig entered the meet as the fifth seed and found herself in seventh place heading into the final, but rocketed into the lead on her fifth throw.
"The first few weren't so good and I kind of got mad and knew I needed to hit one," Noennig said. "It worked out well and I was able to pull through in the end. I wasn't about to go down easy, so I just let it happen."
The mark of 18.14m/59-6.25 feet gave her the lead by three centimeters and she held onto first place for the remainder of the competition to seal ASU's second season sweep of the shot put in the past two years.
"She's got a mental makeup like no other," Sun Devil throws coach Brian Blutreich said. "To PR in the NCAA final again, it just shows you that champions are built differently."
Noennig's win follows her trend of dramatic victories as she won the indoor title by setting a personal best and claiming the title by two centimeters on her final throw of the competition.
"It was a great end to her collegiate season," Blutreich said. "She couldn't have done much better to finish with two national championships and two conference championships. It's been a fight most of the year, but she's such a great competitor that you can never count her out."
With the 10 points from Noennig's shot put win, ASU finished the night in second place in the women's competition thanks to an additional two points from Beatrice Llano in the women's hammer throw.
"It was probably the deepest hammer competition in NCAA history," Blutreich said. "She did a fabulous job. She hasn't trained in six weeks because of a shoulder issue, so we haven't been able to lift or throw in practice, but she's been competing through the pain and it's just a testament to how tough she is."
Llano recorded a mark of 67.74m/222-3 feet to earn her second first-team All-America honor. Although the finish wasn't as high as her first honor back in 2017 (third), Llano's throw Thursday was a foot better than the mark she set at her first championship.
"Generally that throw would get you top-four, but the meet was incredible and there were a lot of great competitors today," Blutreich said. "To get seventh at the NCAA meet without being able to train for six weeks is beyond excellent."
ASU's women's throwers have produced 119 points at the NCAA Outdoor Championships for since 2009, with 58 of those points coming in the last three seasons alone with the emergence of Maggie Ewen and continued ascendance of the program under Blutreich.
Noennig's title is Blutreich's 19th as a coach and ASU's fourth outdoor shot put title in school history. The Devils are the first program since 2002 to have different athletes take back-to-back shot put titles as Ewen won the crown back in 2018.
The Sun Devil women aren't finished yet, though. The women's javelin throw was postponed due to weather, and Seri Geisler will make her NCAA Championship debut Friday afternoon.
William Paulson will be the lone Devil competing in the final day of the men's championship as he toes the line for the 1,500-meter final.