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There were loads of personal bests in the women's final to start off the last day of competition at nationals. Starting off the competition on a good note when Jukina Dickerson threw 66m on her first throw to take the early lead. The next thrower was freshman Jenny Dahlgren of Georgia. She showed no signs of nervousness as she threw a personal best to pass Dickerson by 5cm. Dahlgren held the lead for two rounds until Jessica Cosby of UCLA was able to throw a 1.5 meter personal best in the third round. Going into the finals, last year's champion Candice Scott was in fourth place and it looked as thought she might not repeat as champion. However, in the fourth round Scott started the fireworks. All three of her last throws were better than runner-up Cosby's best mark. Scott hit ber best throw in the sixth round and won with a best of 68.83m. Also notable in the competition was a personal best throw by Alabama's Beth Mallory to take seventh place.

The personal bests did not stop after the women's competition ended. Six of the top seven finishers in the men's hammer threw either personal bests of season bests in the competition. The only one not to was winner Thomas Freeman, who still within a foot of his personal best. Dan Taylor took the early lead in the competition with a throw of 69m in the first round. Lucais MacKay, Jake Dunkleberger, and Colton Hodge also threw personal or season bests in the first round. However, it was in the third round when things got even more exciting. First, Spyridon Jullien of Virginia Tech broke 70m for the first time this season. After fouling his first two throws, Manhattan's Thomas Freeman came back on his third throw to pass Jullien with a throw of 70.73m that would hold up for the win. In the fourth round, Jullien came within inches of Freeman with another improvement. However, Freeman ended up improving slightly on his last throw to win with a best of 70.77m, beating Jullien by a mere three inches. Although the winning distance was not as great as it has been in previous years, this year's competition was among the most exciting and closest competitions in history.

» Complete Results from Texas Sports.com (Men | Women)
» Results from the Prelims
» Complete List of Entrants with Top Qualifying Marks

Corrections are appreciated.
Please send them to: G. Martin Bingisser