Southern Illinois University
NCAA Outdoor Championships
McCall finishes second in the nation in hammer throw
06/10/2011 | 12:00:00 | Track and Field
June 10, 2011
By Bill Ford
SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Southern Illinois junior Jeneva McCall finished second in the nation in the hammer throw to earn All-America honors Friday at the NCAA Championships in Des Moines, Iowa.
McCall posted a mark of 222-03 on her final throw of the day to finish just 16 inches short of national champion Dorotea Habazin of Virginia Tech. The Dolton, Ill., native's first-team All-America nod marked the eighth of her Saluki career.
"Jeneva did a great job. She put a really nice series together in the first flight and put herself in a good position," said SIU coach Connie Price-Smith. "It was nice to see her really go after it with her last throw."
Saluki senior Jeff Schirmer earned second-team All-America honors with his ninth-place finish in the 10,000-meter run Friday. The Troy, Ill., native closed out his illustrious SIU career with a time of 29:04.64 to earn his first All-America nod in track and field.
"It is a good way for him to end his career. He finished two places higher than we originally anticipated he would," Price-Smith said. "He told me the other day, this track is where he ran his first 10k. It was pretty fitting for him to finish his career here with a ninth-place finish at Nationals."
SIU senior Gwen Berry also competed in the hammer throw, but fouled on all three of her attempts. Berry and McCall will both close out the competition for SIU by competing in the shot put at 11 a.m. Saturday.
"Tomorrow is a new day and I would like to see Jeneva and Gwen both make the finals," Price-Smith said. "They have both been a little down in their shot this year, but Jeneva is looking really good. Gwen hasn't been able to practice as much because of her knee, but I am expecting them both to do well tomorrow."
Players Mentioned
