Track athletes make All-American Team
It was a successful day for Texas State as three Bobcat athletes earned All-American honors at the NCAA National Outdoor Meet in Austin.
Elisabet Runarsdottir became the first Texas State freshman to earn First Team All-American honors at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in 18 years as she finished seventh in the women’s hammer throw at Mike A. Myers Stadium on Thursday.
Runarsdottir, a freshman out of Iceland, threw a personal-best 66.98 meters/ 219-9 in her sixth and final attempt to crack the event’s top-seven. She qualified to the finals with a 64.93 meters/213-0 throw in her second attempt, but then threw 65.37 meters/214-5 in her fifth attempt before the personal-best in the final throw.
The 66.98m/219-9 throw set a new Icelandic record and was 10th-best in school history.
Runarsdottir joined Alyssa Wilson (2022) as the two Bobcats to claim First Team All-American status in the women’s hammer throw. She is also the first Bobcat freshman to achieve the feat since Katya Kostetskaya was a First Team All-American in the women’s 400 meter hurdles in 2005.
Runarsdottir was one of two Bobcats competing on Thursday as Sedrickia Wynn earned All-America Honorable Mention honors after finishing 20th in the women’s 100 meter hurdles. Wynn ran 13.42 in her final collegiate race.
Wynn was only the second Bobcat in program history to compete at the national championships in the women’s 100 meter hurdles (other: Brigitte Foster, 1998).
The Texas State women, lifted by Runarsdottir’s seventh-place finish, will end the NCAA Outdoor Championships with two team points. It is the second year in a row the Bobcats scored team points at the national meet and fifth time in the last 10 championships.
Chris Preddie earned Second Team All-America honors in the men’s long jump on Wednesday at the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships as the freshman finished 14th in the event at Mike A. Myers Stadium.
With a mark of 7.70 meters/25-3.25, Preddie became the first All-American Bobcat in the men’s long jump since 2021. He had the best finish by a Bobcat in the long jump at the national championships since 2005.
Preddie is the first male Texas State freshman to earn All-America honors in an outdoor season.
Preddie had his best jump in his second of three attempts. He leapt 7.31 meters/23-11.75 in his first attempt before going for 7.70 meters in his middle jump. He recorded a leap of 7.24 meters/23-9 in his final attempt.
Preddie, from Little River Academy, Texas, was the third-highest finishing freshman in the men’s long jump. Jordan Turner of Kentucky (3rd overall, 8.13m/26-8.25) and JC Stevenson of USC (10th overall, 7.79m/25-6.75) were the other freshmen who finished ahead of Preddie.
Carey McLeod of Arkansas won the individual title in the men’s long jump with a mark of 8.26 meters/27-1.25.
Preddie is the fourth different Bobcat to be an All-American in the men’s long jump, joining Gordon McKee (1990), Brian Veal (2004, 2005) and Ronnie Briscoe Jr. (2021).
