Delsea graduate and Southern Illinois senior Elisia Lancaster added another 10 feet to her already-formidable hammer PR in a recent meet in Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Lancaster threw 218-9 at the Joey Haines Invitational at Southeastern Missouri and actually posted three PRs in one competition.
That’s No. 66 in U.S. history.
Lancaster finished second to post-grad DeAnna Price, a two-time Olympian and the U.S. record holder. Price, whose PR of 263-5 is No. 2 in world history, threw 226-8. She is a Southern Illinois graduate.
Lancaster’s previous PR was her 208-5 at a meet in late March in Murray, Ky.
She had a tremendous series at Cape Girardeau, with throws of 209-7, foul, 214-8, 204-11, foul and then the 218-9 on her final attempt.
So she actually PR’d three times with the 209-7, 214-8 and 218-9.
Her average throw of 212-0 on her four legal throws was actually more than three feet beyond her previous PR.
With her 218-9, Lancaster moves up to No. 12 in NCAA Division 1 this year and No. 12 among all U.S. women.
Lancaster finished eight inches ahead of teammate Shauneice O’Neal, and the two of them moved up into the No. 5 and No. 7 spots in school history.
Lancaster’s 218-9 is the best mark by a Southern Illinois hammer thrower since Price threw 239-9 when she placed 5th at the World Championships in London in August 2016.
With her 218-9, Lancaster fell just short of the A standard of 219-9 for the 2022 U.S. National Championships in Eugene in June. She has until June 12 to hit the standard.
Next for Lancaster is the Illini Invitational in Champaign, Ill., April 22-23.
Lancaster began her college track career at Rowan College Gloucester County, where she won six NJCAA national titles. She spent one indoor season at Towson before landing in Carbondale.
Here’s a look at Lancaster’s year-by-year hammer improvement:
2018 [Rowan-Gloucester]: 154-0 [NJCAA Division 3 Nationals, Utica, N.Y.]
2019 [Rowan-Gloucester]: 182-2 [Towson (Md.) Invitational]
2020: Did not compete
2021 [Southern Illinois]: 207-11 [Rock Chalk Classic, Lawrence, Kans.]
2022 [Southern Illinois]: 218-9 [ Joey Haines Invitational, Cape Girardeau, Mo.]
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 