Ursinus junior Isabelle Deal from Washington Township recorded the 2nd-best javelin throw in NCAA Division 3 this year Wednesday and one of the top 20 in D-3 history.
On Day 1 of the AARTFC Championships at Doug Arthur Stadium at Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, Pa., Deal threw a meet-record 155-0 on her first attempt.
Deal also moved onto the all-time NCAA Division 3 performance list at No. 17. The only D-3 woman ahead of her this year is Avery Decker of Nebraska Wesleyan in Lincoln, Neb., who threw 158-11 at the American Rivers Conference Championships this past weekend at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa.
Her throw puts her at No. 54 among all U.S. women. She broke the meet record of 147-0 set in 1992 by Carrie Gorton of SUNY Brockport (N.Y.) at Ithaca. The AARTFC Championships – All-Atlantic Region Track and Field Championships – carries over records from the New York State Collegiate Track Conference Championships, held through 2017.
Deal’s previous PR was a 148-6 from last month at the Larry Ellis Invitational at Princeton. She won the Centennial Conference title earlier this month with a 140-5 in Collegeville.
There is a former South Jersey athlete still ahead of Deal on the all-time NCAA Division 3 list. Mercedes Glover of Rutgers-Newark, who ranks No. 13 all-time at 156-5 from the 2015 ECAC Championships in Springfield, Mass., graduated from Burlington Township.
With her No. 6 ranking coming into the meet, Deal was already locked into a spot at the NCAA Division 3 National Championships, scheduled for May 25-27 at Polisseni Track and Field Complex on the St. John Fisher campus in Rochester, N.Y.
Deal is already a 2-time NCAA Division 3 All-America with an 8th-place finish in 2021 in Greensboro and a 6th-place last year in Geneva, Ohio.
After her record-setting opening throw, Deal hit 129-5 and then popped three straight 140-footers – 142-11, 144-8 and 140-7 – before fouling on her final attempt. Her average throw went 142-6 – just six feet shy of her previous PR.
Deal won by over 12 feet over Erin Miller of Elizabethtown, who threw 142-5 on her 6th and final attempt.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 