Godsey breaks own NCAA Division III record in hammer throw
A year ago, ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College senior Keelin Godsey set the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships record in the women’s hammer throw, at 195 feet and 4 inches.
On Friday at Benedictine University, Godsey’s hammer traveled far beyond that mark all day long, en route to winning a second straight NCAA championship in his best event.
Godsey set a personal and school record on his final throw of the day, at 206 feet and 5 inches. Knowing the throw was a good one as soon as he released it, Godsey jumped up and down in celebration.
“It was my last throw, so I just want to go all out,” Godsey said via cellphone. “I was trying to go as fast as I could while keeping control. This one I got.
“I was telling myself today, ‘This is my day, my event, and no one can take it from me.’ It worked out for me. This was a great way to end my year at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½.”
Godsey’s closest competitor, Wisconsin-Oshkosh senior Robyn Jarocki, was over 14 feet behind, at 191-10 — “The closest anyone’s ever been behind me,” Godsey said. The third-place finisher, Jarocki’s senior teammate, Danielle Rankin, was nearly equally as far behind Jarocki, at 176-6.
Godsey threw as far as 203 feet and 6 inches during the first round of the competition — more than enough to set the meet record and pocket the championship.
“This year’s been my best year, and I know I’ve matured as an athlete,” Godsey said. “I always do my best to be a competitor, and I had to get one more good throw in.”
Godsey’s achievement also gives him 15 All-America honors in his collegiate career, with one event left. Godsey will compete in the shot put Saturday in his last performance in a ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ uniform.
“It was an amazing feat from an amazing athlete,” said ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ women’s track and field coach Jay Hartshorn. “He had already broken the national record by eight feet, but on his last throw as a ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ athlete, he set a bar that will make it a really long time before anybody matches it. That’s Keelin; that’s what he does.”




