EUGENE, Ore. —UTSA senior Maia Campbell closed out her collegiate career by earning honorable mention All-America honors in the women's shot put at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Thursday evening at Hayward Field.
Campbell finished 22nd in the national final with a mark of 15.99 meters (52-5.5) to become the first female Roadrunner to earn All-America recognition in a throwing event. The Converse Judson High School product now is the 13th All-American for the women's program and her performance bumps the number of certificates claimed to 25 overall and 16 outdoors.
Throwing seventh in Flight 2, Campbell opened with a measurement of 15.71m (51-6.5) in her first national meet. She then posted an improvement of nearly one foot on her second spin in the ring. Her final of three tries was not measured, and she finished in 22nd ahead of a pair of Alabama throwers and just behind Texas' Elena Bruckner (16.06m/52-8.25).
"It has been a pleasure watching Maia grow over the years into the student-athlete she has become," UTSA Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Aaron Fox said. "She had an incredible career at UTSA that finished up here today at the NCAA Championships. We will miss her greatly."
Adelaide Aquilla of Ohio State won the shot put with a mark of 18.98m (62-3.25) followed by Josie Schaefer of Wisconsin (18.29m/60-0.25) and Akealy Moton of North Dakota State (18.11m/59-5).
Campbell earned a spot in the national final with a top-12 finish at the NCAA West Preliminary Round on May 27 in College Station, finishing 11th with a mark of 16.74m (54-11.25). That performance came two weeks after her school-record heave of 17.33m (56-10.25) posted in winning the Conference USA Outdoor crown on May 16.
A three-time conference medalist, Campbell climbed to the top of the program's record book in both the indoor and outdoor shot put over the last two years. She claimed the 2020 C-USA Indoor crown with a school-record 16.12m (52-10.75) measurement, shattering the previous mark by more than one meter. She eclipsed the outdoor record in April with a 15.77m (51-9) runner-up effort at the Texas A&M Team Invitational and then improved that standard to 15.95m (52-4) at the Roadrunner Invitational before smashing it at the conference meet.
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