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| Hilary Coady |
Hilary Coady capped the indoor portion of her senior year by becoming just the second indoor All-American in the history of The College of Wooster track & field program, as the multi-event specialist turned in a third-place score of 3,497 points in the pentathlon at the NCAA Div. III Indoor Track & Field Championships, held at Grinnell, Iowa.
"We as a staff are very proud of what Hilary accomplished during the course of this indoor season," said head coach Dennis Rice, the longtime mentor for the Fighting Scots. "She had a season where everything really fell right into place for her. To be an All-American is a special thing. It is something she'll carry with her for the rest of her life. We're truly proud of the super effort during the course of the day."
Coady, who also earned an All-American certificate in the 400-meter hurdles at the 2015 NCAA Div. III Outdoor Championships, really separated herself from a majority of the field in the shot put. There, Coady continued to up her career-best mark, this time to 36 feet, 10.25 inches, a total second in the 17-competitor field.
"She had a huge, huge effort in the shot put," explained Rice. "She headed into the shot put in ninth-place, coming off of the hurdles and the high jump."
The senior went on and capped the five-event competition with a season-best 2:22.19 in the 800 meters, a time that enabled Coady to move up a spot in the overall standings.
"Hilary knew she had to turn in another big effort to challenge for a spot in the top three," said Rice. "She went into the 800 with a great deal of confidence, knowing that she was capable of performing at a certain effort. (The effort) really carried throughout the day. (The field) was extremely competitive in the 800 with the top three battling for spots."
Coady started the championship with a season-best time of 9.26 in the 60-meter hurdles. She cleared 5 feet, 1 inch in the high jump, and had a mark of 16 feet, 5 inches in the long jump.
"Julius Higginbotham and Jessica Bridenthal have done a good job with Hilary in helping her prepare to hit her ultimate peak at the indoor national championships," commented Rice when highlighting Coady's overall development this season. "It obviously carried over into today's overall efforts of finishing third."
W Association Hall of Famer Claire Roberts earned the College's other indoor All-American certificate with a fourth-place finish in the 400 meters at the 1994 NCAA DIv. III Championships.
Peyton Dostie, a senior from the University of Southern Maine, won the championship with a score of 3,654 points.