Junior Brandy Smith (Miami, Fla./Ransom Everglades) of the Ithaca College women's track & field team won her second consecutive NCAA Division III National Championship in the discus on Thursday afternoon at Walston-Hoover Stadium on the campus of Wartburg College.
Along with classmate Katherine Pitman, Smith was named Ithaca's Co-Athlete of the Week.
Smith becomes the seventh student-athlete at Ithaca College to record multiple national championships, and the first to do so since Emma Dewart '12 won back-to-back pentathlons in 2010 and 2011. It is also the fifth individual national title in track & field program history.
Smith bested the field on her final throw of the championship with a mark of 51.48 meters (168 feet, 10.75 inches). Smith fouled on her first two attempts before recording her first mark of 46.44 meters, and then followed with a toss of 44.98 meters. She once again fouled on the fifth try before bouncing back with the clinching heave, which was 1.44 meters (4' 9") farther than the runner-up from Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
Smith entered the championship field seeded second overall at 51.92 meters.
Last spring, Smith outdistanced the field with a throw of 53.00 meters (173' 11") to notch the second-best performance in championship history, while her mark this afternoon is the fourth farthest all-time dating back to 1982.
It is the 33rd individual national championship in Ithaca College history.
