Wednesday, June 8
Eugene, Ore.
ALL DAY
Lehigh University
vs
NCAA Outdoor National Championships
Avery Earns All-America Honors with 11th Place finish at NCAA National Championships
6/11/2016 9:17:00 PM | Women's Track and Field
Complete Results (DirectAthletics)
EUGENE, Ore. – Lehigh junior Courtney Avery finished tied for 11th overall (1.78 meters) in Saturday's high jump at the NCAA National Championships at the University of Oregon's historic Hayward Field. The placement also earns her Second Team All-America honors, making her the first All-American in program history and the fifth female in school history to earn All-America accolades. She is also just the seventh female in Patriot League outdoor track and field history to earn the distinction.
"We're very happy and going through a lot of emotions," head coach Matt Utesch said. "I'm so incredibly proud of her. She jumped great and could've done a little bit better, but this meet is more about the journey of getting here and being a part of it more than anything else. We have her back next year which is incredibly exciting, and she going to jump a lot higher."
Avery cleared the bar on her first leap of the day at 1.73 meters, before needing two jumps to clear the next height of 1.78m. She then came up short on each of her three attempts at the next bar of 1.82m, which would have been a new school and personal record. Kansas State's Kimberly Williamson captured the national title at a height of 1.88 meters.
The first All-American in Lehigh women's track and field history, Saturday's performance by Avery makes her the eighth female in Lehigh history to earn an All-America accolade. She joins women's lacrosse alums Brenda Serois (1983), Karyn Yost (1983, 1985), Carla Juliani (1987), Liz Brode (1994 and 1995), Jill Altshuler (1995 and 1996) and Lauren Dykstra (2011). Avery's teammate, Elizabeth Weiler also earned All-America honors in cross country in 2015.
"It definitely hasn't sunk in yet," Avery said of her accomplishment after the meet. "My goal was to make this meet and to finally get here is amazing. It's helped me get to know my competition and what I need to work on. I want to come back here next year and finish higher."
The Wynantskill, N.Y. native wraps up a phenomenal season where she qualified for the NCAA Championships on May 27 by setting a new Lehigh school outdoor record at the NCAA First Round prelims with her high jump of 1.80 meters, successfully clearing the bar on all four attempts. She previously won the Penn Relay's High Jump Championship of America on April 29 and took third place at the ECAC Championships.
On May 7, she was crowned the Patriot League outdoor high jump champion (1.75m), the fifth league title of her career. In February, she won the league's indoor title as well by setting a school and Patriot League indoor championship meet record with a 1.81 meter jump, for which she was named the Most Outstanding Field Athlete of the Meet.
"She already taking this into next year," Utesch said. "She's very unsatisfied and wants to be better and beat the best. Now that she has tasted it, we will see a different Courtney Avery next year. She is breaking ground for our program and is exactly what Lehigh is looking for and the type of person we are trying to attract and develop to build our whole program and department on."
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EUGENE, Ore. – Lehigh junior Courtney Avery finished tied for 11th overall (1.78 meters) in Saturday's high jump at the NCAA National Championships at the University of Oregon's historic Hayward Field. The placement also earns her Second Team All-America honors, making her the first All-American in program history and the fifth female in school history to earn All-America accolades. She is also just the seventh female in Patriot League outdoor track and field history to earn the distinction.
"We're very happy and going through a lot of emotions," head coach Matt Utesch said. "I'm so incredibly proud of her. She jumped great and could've done a little bit better, but this meet is more about the journey of getting here and being a part of it more than anything else. We have her back next year which is incredibly exciting, and she going to jump a lot higher."
Avery cleared the bar on her first leap of the day at 1.73 meters, before needing two jumps to clear the next height of 1.78m. She then came up short on each of her three attempts at the next bar of 1.82m, which would have been a new school and personal record. Kansas State's Kimberly Williamson captured the national title at a height of 1.88 meters.
The first All-American in Lehigh women's track and field history, Saturday's performance by Avery makes her the eighth female in Lehigh history to earn an All-America accolade. She joins women's lacrosse alums Brenda Serois (1983), Karyn Yost (1983, 1985), Carla Juliani (1987), Liz Brode (1994 and 1995), Jill Altshuler (1995 and 1996) and Lauren Dykstra (2011). Avery's teammate, Elizabeth Weiler also earned All-America honors in cross country in 2015.
"It definitely hasn't sunk in yet," Avery said of her accomplishment after the meet. "My goal was to make this meet and to finally get here is amazing. It's helped me get to know my competition and what I need to work on. I want to come back here next year and finish higher."
The Wynantskill, N.Y. native wraps up a phenomenal season where she qualified for the NCAA Championships on May 27 by setting a new Lehigh school outdoor record at the NCAA First Round prelims with her high jump of 1.80 meters, successfully clearing the bar on all four attempts. She previously won the Penn Relay's High Jump Championship of America on April 29 and took third place at the ECAC Championships.
On May 7, she was crowned the Patriot League outdoor high jump champion (1.75m), the fifth league title of her career. In February, she won the league's indoor title as well by setting a school and Patriot League indoor championship meet record with a 1.81 meter jump, for which she was named the Most Outstanding Field Athlete of the Meet.
"She already taking this into next year," Utesch said. "She's very unsatisfied and wants to be better and beat the best. Now that she has tasted it, we will see a different Courtney Avery next year. She is breaking ground for our program and is exactly what Lehigh is looking for and the type of person we are trying to attract and develop to build our whole program and department on."
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Players Mentioned
Jumps
/ Women's Track and Field
Distance
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