Illinois State’s Williams earns All-America status at NCAA finals

Posted on June 12, 2015

By ISU Sports Information

EUGENE, Ore. – Senior Jianna Williams earned First-Team All-America honors, after she finished seventh in the women’s hammer throw with a mark of 62.89 meters (206-04) at the 2015 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships Thursday.

ISU’s Anderson Devonish placed 20th overall in the men’s 400-meter dash on Wednesday, missing the cut for the NCAA finals.

Williams fouled on her first attempt, but recorded a solid effort of 63.42 meters (204-09) on her second throw of the series before fouling on her third attempt. Her mark sent her into the finals and gave her three more throws, the first two of which came up short of her previous mark. However, on her sixth and final throw of the night, Williams increased her mark by nearly two feet and secured a top-8 finish for All-American status.

Not only did Williams compete in the hammer throw Thursday, she also competed in the shot put competition. Williams ultimately finished 15th overall with a mark of 15.93 meters (53-03.25), which she set on her third and final throw of the series.

Last year, Williams finished 19th overall to earn All-American Honorable Mention honors in the hammer throw with a toss of 57.22 meters (187-09) at the NCAA Championships.

Devonish captured a time of 46.72 in the 400-meter dash semifinals at 2015 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships, Wednesday, falling short of the finals on Friday.

“Andy got a tough lane draw here at the nationals,” Illinois State director of Track and Field/Cross Country Jeff Bovee said. “Overall Andy has had a break-through season. He will compete in post-season meets to get him ready for next year. I see him coming back next year better than ever, and was not his last run in Eugene.”

This season, Devonish notched a personal best performance of 46.26 in the 400-meter dash at the NCAA West Regional. Devonish was named the co-Most Valuable Athlete at the MVC Championships, and earned conference title in the 400-meter dash. He also contributed in breaking Illinois State’s school record in the 4×400-meter relay with a time of 3:06.51.

Devonish will compete in the Barbados National Championships on June 19⁰21, and will also be competing at the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games on July 21-25.

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