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ALLENDALE, Mich. – Slippery Rock University senior javelin thrower Danielle Collier won the national championship and sophomore Trinity Clark placed 10th to give The Rock two All-Americans Saturday at the NCAA Division II National Championships from Grand Valley State University.
 
Collier's very first throw of the competition (48.15m) would have been good enough to hold up for the win, but she unloaded a throw of 53.18 meters (174' 6") on her third throw to shatter her own SRU record (50.72m) and the all-time Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference record in the process (Seton Hill's Mallory Sanner – 166' 8" in 2015).
 
All five of Collier's legal throws in the competition were longer than the runner-up finisher, whose best throw was 17 feet, five inches shorter than Collier.
 
Her throw of 53.18 meters is the eighth-best throw in Division II history and currently ranks 16th in the United States among all female throwers, professional or collegiate.
 
Perhaps more exciting than the national title, is that Collier will now represent Slippery Rock at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials at Hayward Field at the University of Oregon next month. She will throw in the opening round of the javelin Friday, June 25.
 
Collier is the first national champion in an individual event for The Rock women since Courtney McQuaide won the pole vault in 2018. She is the third SRU woman to win a national title in the javelin, joining Lisa Hulihan (1982) and Karyn McCready (2004).
 
Clark narrowly missed out on qualifying for the finals and finished 10th with a throw of 40.27 meters. She fouled her first two attempts of the contest and had her javelin held up by the wind on her third and final throw. The 10th place finish locked up a second team All-America honor for Clark in her nationals debut and gave The Rock two All-Americans for the first time since 2018.
 
Collier will continue her storybook senior season at the U.S. Olympic Trials June 25 at the University of Oregon's Hayward Field. She will be one of two individuals with SRU connections at the trials, as SRU Hall of Fame alumnus Gary Aldrich (1982) is serving as the men's throws coach for the U.S. Olympic Team.
 
 

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