FARGO, N.D. – North Dakota State graduate student Lexi Maples will compete in the hammer throw at the 2024 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Eugene, Ore., on Thursday, June 6.
Maples (Whanganui, New Zealand) will be making her NCAA Championships debut. The hammer throw is scheduled for 5 p.m. CT / 3 p.m. PT on Thursday at Hayward Field, with an event-specific live video stream on ESPN+. Maples will throw in Flight 1 of 2.
Based on season-best marks among the NCAA qualifiers, Maples is ranked 14th entering the meet.
She captured the Summit League title in the hammer this season, and owns a personal-best throw of 213-2 (64.97m) that ranks third on the NDSU all-time list.
All-America Honors
The top eight finishers in all events will earn first team All-American honors, places 9 through 16 will be named second team All-Americans, and all other national meet competitors will receive honorable mention status.
Competition Format
Twenty-four women qualified to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in each event through the NCAA Preliminary Rounds format. In every throwing event, each athlete will receive three preliminary attempts. The top nine performers will advance to the final round, earning three additional attempts.
Throwing Event Regulars
NDSU has sent a women’s qualifier to the NCAA Championships in the hammer throw for six of the past seven seasons – Katelyn Weimerskirch in 2017, Maddy Nilles in 2018, Bailey Retzlaff in 2019, Nilles again in 2021, Amy Phillips in 2022, and Maples in 2024.
Top Placer
Laura Hermanson is the highest women’s national-meet finisher in NDSU’s Division I history, taking second place in the 800 meters at the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Looking for a Dozen
The NDSU women have earned 11 first-team All-America honors in outdoor track & field since completing the transition to Division I in 2009. NDSU’s six most recent first-team All-America honors have all come in the throwing events.