TEMPE, Ariz.—Women’s semifinal competition at the 2015 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships begins on Thursday afternoon, and two-even qualifier Magdalyn Ewen will make her first career appearance at the championship meet in Eugene, Ore., with the shot put at 5:40 p.m. PT.
Ewen also qualified in the discus, which will be contested on Saturday at 1:35 p.m. PT at Hayward Field.
In her first year competing with the Sun Devils, Ewen’s top marks in each of her three events are featured in the ASU Outdoor Top-10. She threw 16.33m (53-7.00) in the shot put, the No. 8 mark, 56.91m (186-08) in the discus, which is marked at No. 5, and 60.54m (198-07) in the hammer, which is the No. 6 mark all-time.
Thoughts on the meet from redshirt freshman Magdalyn Ewen
On qualifying to compete in two events as a first-year competitor for the Sun Devils:
“I couldn’t ask for anything more, this is way more than I thought, I’m just so grateful to be here.”
On the NCAA West Preliminary, and throwing all three of her events:
“I wasn’t as focused on hammer, as I was with discus and shot because I knew I had more opportunities in those two events. We kind of shifted our training to focus on those two, so when hammer didn’t go so great, I was just already mentally ready to move on to better things.”
On the shot put and discus at the regional meet:
“They went well, both of them were pretty stressful in how they turned out. I didn’t quite throw as far as I hoped to in the discus so that was nerve-wrecking to even know if I had qualified or not. And shot put I hadn’t thrown in four days because of the crazy schedule we had so I was kind of stressed not knowing what would happen going into it. The competition was so good and just everyone there, Shelbi Vaughn, Kelsey Card, and having Alex Hartig there competing with me and Ashley Weber, it was just all really good and I think it just brought out the best.”
On having seen a lot of the competition she’ll see at NCAAs during the regular season:
“It is nice, it is kind of different in the throwing events, there is nothing you can do to prevent your competition from throwing well, so having seen them previously doesn’t make a huge difference but you do kind of just get more comfortable with their level of competition and you get to know what to expect from them. So, it’s just been nice to be able to compete on the same stage as them.”
On being one of the few Sun Devil qualifiers that is not an upperclassman:
“It feels good, I like being able to contribute to the team. Being able to contribute now just gives me hope that for the next four years I will just do even better for them and get more points and hopefully we can get more people to come with.”
What she’s most excited about at the NCAA Championships:
“That’s tough, to just pick one thing. Probably just seeing all of these people I have never thrown against before from the East Region should be a lot of fun. Hopefully it will bring out even more distances in me and everybody else.”
On the challenges of being a first-time qualifier:
“Well I mean there is definitely the anxiety, not quite nerves, but just all of the extra adrenaline you get and trying to control all of that but still think really technically and not try and just power through everything because that is just not going to work. I think with just all of the emotions it is going to be tough to overcome but I think it will go well.”
On coming into a long legacy of Sun Devil throwers who have come in and made an immediate impact:
“I hope I can continue it, and I hope I can turn into a Jessica Pressley or a Sarah Stevens, you know that would be great.”
On having GA Jessica Pressley around the program:
“That has been so helpful, she knows exactly what we are going through, anytime we have a question for her she is always like, “oh I’ve been through this, this is what you have to do, I know what you are feeling, calm down, it’s not a big thing.” She is just always there and always helpful, it’s really going to be hard to see her go next year.”
On herself, Shelby Houlihan, and Bryan McBride, who have qualified in two events each:
“Yeah, it is more opportunities to score definitely, but it is going to be tricky to keep just emotions up and my body right and everything for those two days, but it should be a lot of fun and I just hope we do very well.”
On what she can learn from Houlihan and her experience in doubling at major meets:
“Everything, watching her composure when she is running and how graciously she wins. Everything about her, she is just an inspiration and you can learn so much from her.”