Westmont senior Sydney Marr earned her fourth All-American title by finishing sixth in the women’s hammer throw at the 2021 NAIA Outdoor Track and Field Championships Wednesday. Marr threw the hammer 52.99 meters (173-10) on her third throw of the event.
This is Marr’s second All-American honor in the hammer throw. She collected her first in 2019 and was poised to do so again in 2020 before the championship was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She wasn’t sure she would get another chance to compete.
“I am really glad that we got to have this season,” Marr said. “I am so happy that I even got to this time to compete. I thought I wasn’t coming back to school or back to Westmont and here we are at a national championship. It is a great day to be out here and be grateful for what I have been given.”
Marr is also a two-time All-American in the 25-pound weight throw, which is competed at the Indoor National Championships.
“It has been a tough year for Sydney who has trained very hard,” said Westmont head coach Russell Smelley. “She didn’t have a breakthrough, but she did what she needed to do. She was consistent in the first three rounds, which got her All-American. She tried to stretch it and push harder for the last three, but it didn’t quite come together in the same way. However, four-time All-American is outstanding.”
Zola Sekhela and Adam King competed in the preliminaries of the men’s 1500 meters and both advanced to Friday’s final. Running in the first heat, King posted a time of 3:59.85 to finish third. Sokhela, who holds the fastest time in the NAIA this season at 3:44.62, won the second heat in a time of 3:55.33.
Madden Hundley posted a time of 4:51.28 in the women’s 1500 meter preliminaries but did not advance to the finals. Hundley earned All-American honors at the Indoor National Championships in early March and did so again in April at the National Cross Country Championships.
The men’s 4 x 800 relay team closed out day one for the Warriors, running just after sunset in the first heat of two preliminary races. The Warriors claimed second place in a close race to clinch a spot in tomorrow’s finals. Adam King, John Baker, Jason Peterson and Zola Sekhela recorded a historic time of 7:32.47.
“That is the second best performance in history to the 1987 team and very close to the record,” enthused Smelley. “They beat a historic team from 1969. So, it was one of the finest races ever and all four guys ran their best race of the season.”
The 4 x 800 team will compete in the finals Thursday at 7:30 p.m. CDT. In addition, Sekhela will compete in the 800 meter prelims Thursday at 3:50 p.m. local time.