EUGENE, Ore. (July 17, 2022) – Former Northern Arizona All-American Brooke Andersen is a World Champion after winning gold at the 2022 World Athletics Championships on Sunday in the women's hammer throw. Andersen's final throw of the competition of 78.96 meters capped a dominant performance at Hayward Field, in which she was more than three meters better than her nearest competitor.
Andersen sat in first after the opening round following a throw of 74.81 meters, but fell to second after her Team USA teammate Janee' Kassanavoid threw 74.86 meters in the second round. The former Lumberjack slipped one more spot, behind Kassanavoid and Canada's Camryn Rogers, after the third round following Rogers' best throw of the day at 75.72 meters.
With three throws remaining, Andersen left her mark on the competition launching her three best throws of the day in succession. The world's No. 1 women's hammer thrower this year moved back into first with a mark of 77.42 meters in the fourth round and bettered her mark slightly in the fifth round at 77.56 meters.
With neither Kassanavoid and Rogers able to move past Andersen prior to her final throw of the day, Andersen's World Championship was already sealed. However, the U.S. National Champion emphatically put an exclamation point on her afternoon with a throw of 78.96 meters, which wound up just shy of her personal best of 79.02 meters set in April this year.
Andersen qualified for Sunday's finals with just a single attempt in Friday's qualification, hitting 74.37 meters on her first attempt. The throw ranked her second entering the finals behind Kassanavoid.
NAU's contingent at the World Athletics Championships continues this Thursday with a trio of Lumberjack men's distance runners competing in the 5K. Current Lumberjack
Abdihamid Nur will be joined by former 'Jacks
Luis Grijalva and Geordie Beamish in the event with the qualifying heats set to begin at 6:10 p.m. MST/9:10 p.m. EDT.
The men's 5K finals is set for the final day of the championships in Eugene on Sunday, July 24 at 6:05 p.m. MST/9:05 p.m. EDT.
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