ALLENDALE, Mich. Eireann Donohoe took the stage for Western Colorado Friday at the NCAA 2022 Division II Men's and Women's Outdoor Track & Field Championship at the GVSU Track & Field Complex, finishing the women's triple jump in 17th place.
The freshman Mountaineer was in the first of two 12-person flights in the preliminaries and hit the board on each of her three jumps, dropping into the pit with her best result on the second jump – 11.82 meters (38 feet-09.5 inches).
It was a consistent first-time national appearance for the newcomer as all three of her leaps were within 0.17 meters (8.75 inches) of each other.
Donohoe finished the flight with the ninth-longest jump, and the farthest of the three Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference participants in the flight. Across the two flights only the top nine results – which included the RMAC's Annie Topal of New Mexico Highlands University from the second flight -- advanced into the finals for three more attempts.
"Eireann had a phenomenal year," stated her jumps coach,
Matthew Svoboda. "She finishes the year with the fourth-best true freshman mark in D-II women's long jump, and top-10 marks on Western's all-time list in the indoor and outdoor long jump, triple jump, high jump, and the indoor pentathlon. I can't wait to see what she'll be able to accomplish (in the 2022-23 season)."
While Donohoe placed 17th in the final standings Friday, N.M. Highlands' Topal finished fourth, University of Colorado Colorado Springs' Hannah Meek was 19th, and Kiana Jackson of Colorado Mesa University finished 21st, giving the RMAC four top-25 national triple jumpers.
UP NEXT
Day 3, the final day of the NCAA championship – hosted by Grand Valley State University – concludes its individual event schedule Saturday with the men's and women's 5,000-meter runs, events in which Western has an entrant in each.
Cade Michael will hit the oval first in the men's race, followed by
Katie Doucette in the women's race.
The meet then concludes with the men's and women's 4x400m relays.
