The Fourth Time Is An All-American Charm

CANTON, N.Y. (5/21/15)—The fourth time was the charm for Hillary Birchem as she finished sixth in the discus at the NCAA Division III National Outdoor Meet in Canton, N.Y. and earned All-American honors for the first time in her career.

Birchem earned her All-American honor with a throw of 157-03 on the third attempt in the prelims.

Birchem claims her first All-American honor after competing at the national outdoor meet in her freshman, sophomore and junior seasons. Her previous best finish at nationals came last year when she finished 11th and missed out on the finals by less than two feet.

Birchem becomes the fifth Cobber student/athlete to earn All-American honors in the 2014-15 academic calendar year. She follows in the footsteps of teammate Cherae Reeves who earned All-American honors in the shot put at the NCAA Indoor Meet.

Birchem is also the third different Concordia women's track and field athlete to earn outdoor All-American honors in the past three years. The Cobbers have had at least one athlete earn outdoor All-American honors for four straight years and in 20 of the past 22 seasons.

Birchem started the 2015 NCAA Meet by putting up a mark of 155-00 in her first attempt. She then fouled on her second attempt before bettering her initial distance by over two feet on her third attempt. That mark of 157-03 would put her in second place in the first flight and qualify her for her first-ever finals.

Birchem was unable to better her third-attempt distance and finished in sixth place in the event. She was less than a foot out of fifth place and only 14 inches out of fourth place.

Birchem, and the rest of the Concordia national meet contingent, will now wait around until Saturday before the shot put and high jump events. Reeves and Olivia Johnson will compete in theshot put while freshman Vanessa Johnson will participate in the high jump. Both events will take place at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 23.   

RECENT COBBER NCAA OUTDOOR ALL-AMERICANS
2015 - Hillary Birchem
2014 - Hilary Thompson, Cherae Reeves
2013 - Kaari Jensen, Cherae Reeves
2012 - Kaari Jensen
2010 - Leah Kay
2009 - Leah Kay
2008 - Leah Kay
2007 - Heather Schuster
2006 - Angie Pfeiffer, Natalie Hanson
2005 - Nicole Plante
2004 - Angie Pfeiffer, Amy Ravenhorst, Alissa Bilden, Kelly Olson
2003 - Angie Pfeiffer
2002 - Kelli Tranby
2000 - Maria DeBoer
1999 - Maria DeBoer
1998 - Maria DeBoer, Laura Utke, Becky Kearns
1997 - Renee Erickson
1996 - Renee Erickson
1995 - Renee Erickson, Tracy Bernsten
1994 - Renee Erickson, Tracy Bernsten, Merrilee Rutherford