CLOVIS, Calif. – Dominant throughout the year, Fresno State's women's hammer throwers put that on display on Friday afternoon at the Mountain West Outdoor Track & Field Championships as they made history, becoming the first hammer group, men's or women's, to place four athletes in the Top 5 at a conference championship meet. Nadia Maffo claimed the top spot with ease with a throw of 63.66m/208-10.
The Bulldogs' fifth-year senior from Udine, Italy won the event by more than nine feet. Four of her final five throws would have been good enough to capture gold. It was the fourth MW title in the women's hammer for Fresno State, the most by any program since the 'Dogs joined the conference in 2013.
The Bulldogs finished the hammer going 1-3-4-5. Fresno State's 25 points is the most-ever scored in the women's hammer at the championship meet, passing the 24 by Colorado State in 2002 and UNLV in 2011.
Heading into the competition fifth in the conference, and fourth on the team, Amelia DiPaola was right where she was expected to be through four rounds. That changed on her fifth attempt when she launched a personal best of 60.62m/198-10, her first career throw over 60 meters. While she was bested on the next throw, DiPaola's PB earned the junior a spot on the podium. It also meant that Fresno State joined Southern Illinois as the only program with four 60-meter hammer throwers in 2022.
Fifth-year seniors Tahj’nee Thurston (60.43m/198-3) and Hannah Chappell (58.35m/191-5) placed fourth and fifth, respectively.
Later in the day, under the lights, redshirt freshman Cierra Jackson earned the Bulldogs' third medal of the day as she finished third overall in the shot put with a 15.52m/50-11 on her second attempt. DiPaola added to her point total with a six-place finish (14.76m/48-5.25) after setting her second PR of the day.
On the men's side of the throws, Charles Remlinger landed a new PB in the hammer to earn himself sixth place. The junior's new best came in at 56.02m/183-9.
Opening the scoring on the day for women was Madison Hutton. Fresh off placing fourth in the heptathlon yesterday, the freshman was back in the sand pit where she placed fifth in the long jump with a mark of 5.93m/19-5.5. It was the best finish by a Bulldog in the event since Je'Nia Sears won it the title in 2016.
Through three days the women's team sits in third place with 44 points.
Four Bulldogs qualified for finals on the track tomorrow. The first came in the women's 400 meters as Ceonna Pipion ran a 55.62. The women also saw Daylee Dunn earn a spot in the 400-meter hurdles final with a 1:01.74, more than a second-and-a-half better than the PR she set two weeks ago.
On the men's side, Nathan Burd and Mohammed Saleh finished second and sixth in the prelims of the 800 meters. While Burd was just over a quarter-of-a-second off his PB with a time of 1:50.62 to win his heat, Saleh set a new one at 1:51.70. It is the first time Fresno State has had two qualifiers in the 800m since 2013.