Delsea graduate Elisia Lancaster, a senior at Southern Illinois, advanced to the NCAA Championships in Eugene with a top-12 finish at the West Preliminary meet Thursday in Fayetteville, Ark.
Lancaster threw 214-6 and placed 9th among the 48 qualifiers who competed Thursday. The top 12 finishers from each of two NCAA preliminary meets – the East Prelim in Indianapolis and the West meet in Fayetteville – advance to the NCAA Championships next month in Eugene, Ore.
The cutoff to qualify for nationals in the West Regional was 207-0, so Lancaster got through comfortably.
She opened with a 212-4 and followed that with her 214-6 and finished with a 214-5 for a very consistent three-throw series averaging 213-10.
Lancaster has a PR of 220-4 from her win in the Missouri Valley Conference Championships two weeks ago in Des Moines, Iowa. She’s thrown 214 or better in four straight meets .
Lancaster began her collegiate career in the spring of 2018 at Rowan Gloucester County. She won the shot, disc and hammer at the NJCAA Championships in Utica, N.Y., in both 2018 and 2019. She competed in the spring of 2020 for Towson before finding a home at Southern Illinois.
Lancaster throws next at the NCAA Championships at 6 p.m. EST June 9 at Hayward Field on the University of Oregon campus.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 