Amanda Salb Wins NCAA Division III Title

Amanda Salb (front row, far right) brought home a first for Mount Holyoke College.

Mount Holyoke junior Amanda Salb captured the NCAA shot put title at the Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships held on May 23 and 24 at Macalester College, St. Paul, Minnesota. Her victory represents the first time that a Mount Holyoke woman has won an individual NCAA Division III championship since women started competing within this organization in 1981.

Marking her third trip to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championship, Salb earned a spot in the finals of the shot put competition by placing third in the preliminary flight with a throw of 43 feet, 6 1/2 inches (13.27 m). In the finals, Salb threw a fantastic 44 feet, 11 3/4 inches (13.70 m), the best this season in Division III. Wanting to make sure her opponents knew this was no fluke, Salb launched her second attempt within two centimeters of her first throw. The nearest competitors, the number one and two finishers at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, Alison Albrecht (Ohio Wesleyan) and Misty Bahr (Hamline University), couldn't catch her. Albrecht and Bahr ended the outdoor competition in second and third place respectively.

Throwing the shot put runs in the Salb family. Salb's father also competed in the shot put, winning the title of Big Eight Champion in the early seventies. Going to the nationals, Amanda was seeded sixth, explained head track and field coach Tina Lee. "We were shooting for top eight and All-American status. It was amazing and truly inspiring to be able to watch Amanda perform so well. Winning was the icing on the cake."

"Salb's improvement over the last three years has been notable," Lee added. She's the kind of competitor who strives for excellence. At the championship she was focused on improving her personal best, not winning. Ten days prior to the meet, we had spent some time refining her
fundamentals. It really paid off. She improved her personal best by 16 inches."

Mount Holyoke will be expecting big things from Salb next year as well as she continues to be a member of both the basketball and track teams. She is expected to top 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds next year in her four years of basketball. Salb may also qualify for Nationals in the discus event.