Hillsdale College's Eden Little entered Tuesday's Last Chance meet at Grand Valley State University on the outside looking in of making her first NCAA DII Outdoor Championships.
It took just one round of throws in the javelin competition on Tuesday, however, for Little to punch her ticket to Pueblo, Colorado in emphatic fashion.
In her third throw of the competition, Little uncorked an attempt that went 45.69 meters, a full meter improvement over her previous personal best mark and the 10th best mark at the NCAA DII level in the event to date.
With just a week left before the field is set for the NCAA DII Outdoor Championships, and with at least 18 competitors likely to make up the field, Little's place in the event, slated for May 25-27 at Colorado State University-Pueblo, is all but secured.
Little's previous best throw in 2022 of 44.38 meters was already the outdoor record in the event at Hillsdale College. This is now the third time that Little has rewrote the school record in the event, after first breaking it with a mark of 43.61 meters as a freshman in 2021. The mark is also a new G-MAC record, breaking her already-held record in that event.
Three other Hillsdale throwers competed in Tuesday's Last Chance Meet in Allendale, Michigan. Junior Katie Weldy took third in the hammer throw with a mark of 55 meters, with teammate and sophomore Averi Parker placing fourth with a mark of 54.13 meters. Senior Nikita Maines also took fourth in the shot put with a mark of 13.03 meters.
Hillsdale has two more meets this week as members of the Chargers track and field team try to put their best foot forward to earn a spot in the NCAA DII Outdoor Championships. The Chargers will compete at Oakland University in a Last Chance meet on Thursday, before traveling to Baldwin-Wallace University for the Harrison Dillard Twilight Invitational on Friday.
Photo by Patrick McGuire