EUGENE, Ore. – St. Mary’s graduate and TCU junior standout Maria Bienvenu finished 17th Thursday in the women’s javelin at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
With the 17th-place finish, she earned honorable mention All-America honors to go with her two second-team All-America awards collected in her two years throwing at UL-Lafayette.
Bienvenu fouled on the first of her three attempts, then recorded a 165-9 mark on the second try. She again fouled on the third and final attempt.
A typical strategy for field events is to go full throttle on the first attempt, then if no mark is recorded, to be more conservative on the second try, then try to better the mark on the third attempt.
Thursday night’s mark was 13 feet behind her season and career best.
She finished 12th and 13th in her earlier NCAA Outdoors competitions, earning second-team All-America honors both times and overcoming elbow surgery after her freshman season with the Ragin’ Cajuns.
