Delsea’s Elisia Lancaster missed advancing to the finals of the hammer throw at the U.S. Olympic Trials Friday by six inches.
Lancaster threw 214-5 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., only six feet off her lifetime-best 220-11, which she threw three weeks ago at the Iron Wood Classic in Rathdrum, Idaho, about 30 miles northeast of Spokane, Wash.
She placed 15th overall, and the top 12 qualifiers advanced to the final Sunday evening. Jasmine Mitchell of Ole Miss, the SEC champion, was 12th at 214-10.
Lancaster, the Missouri Valley Conference champion for Southern Illinois in 2022, graduated in the spring of 2022 and didn’t compete last year.
Lancaster opened with a 210-7 before throwing the 214-5 on her 2nd attempt. She finished with a 188-3 on her final throw.
New Jersey’s other national-class hammer thrower, Alyssa Wilson of Donovan Catholic in Toms River, placed 16th with a season-best 209-6. Wilson is the New Jersey alumni record holder at 245-4 when she placed 2nd for UCLA at the 2022 NCAA Championships, also at Hayward Field.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 