Averi Parker already has earned indoor All-American honors in her career, so a performance that surpasses the mark she set on that day in 2022 certainly is deserving of recognition.
The Great Midwest Athletic Conference Office agreed, as Parker's impressive throw at the Tiffin Open this past Saturday has earned her G-MAC Women's Field Athlete of the Week honors, the G-MAC announced on Monday afternoon.
Parker threw a personal best of 14.98 meters to win the shot put competition at the meet hosted by Tiffin this past weekend, the sixth best mark in the shot put event in NCAA Division II this season and one that almost certainly punches her ticket for a return trip to the NCAA DII Indoor Championships in March in Virginia Beach, VA.
As a freshman last year at the NCAA Indoor meet, Parker placed eighth with a career-best throw of 14.81 meters, earning NCAA DII All-American honors in her first trip to nationals. To surpass that mark with a month to go to this year's competition puts the sophomore right back in position to repeat the honor and potentially finish even higher this season.
In addition to her work with the shot put, Parker also is a talented competitor in the weight throw who's thrown over the NCAA DII provisional qualifying mark in that event this season, and currently ranks 27th nationally with a best mark of 17.65 meters. She'll have a shot over the next two weeks at both the Hillsdale Tune-up and the G-MAC Championships to punch her ticket to the indoor national meet in a second event with a personal record in that event as well.