Sherrill tops women's shot put, Riddick also advances

Faith Sherrill only had to place in the top-12 of the women's shot put to advance to the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

The senior still saw Friday's qualifying round in the NCAA East Preliminary meet as a motivation tool for the big show.

Apparently it worked. Sherrill, the top-ranked shot put thrower in the East heading into the meet, won with a 17.51-meter toss to advance to the NCAA meet in Des Moines, Iowa, beginning June 8.

"It shows me that under pressure, I'm able to do what I'm supposed to do," Sherrill said. "With this meet being top-12 or you're not making it to nationals, it just gave me that motivation to know that I can do things under pressure.

"It motivated me to know that in two weeks, I can be ready to go out there and try for a national championship."

Her third and qualifications-best 17.51-meter throw in the final round of preliminary qualifications bested the top toss of second-place thrower Samira Burkhardt of Virginia Tech by 0.48 meter.

Sherrill's teammate, junior Monique Riddick, completed a bookend pair of IU throwers in the regional final by placing 12th with a 16.24-meter toss and advancing as well.

Despite only needing to crack the top-12 to make the NCAAs, Sherrill said it still meant a lot to beat everyone in her region, especially at home.

"I haven't lost a meet besides the national championship indoor," she said. "It keeps me motivated. I only had one loss this year, so being at home, you always want to protect your territory, and I did, so that's what I'm excited about."

Sherrill's throwing coach, Jermaine Jones, took a different approach to the top result.

"Now we're starting to look at the big picture right away," Jones said. "It's not the best throw. The best throw came out of the West. ... I said it before, and I'll say it again. I think she's talented enough to do it."

Jones' reasoning? A warmup throw Sherrill tossed before the meet began.

"She had a warmup throw that I'm almost sure if it counted would be 18.40," Jones said. "I saw it, she saw it and the other competitors that ended up going to nationals, they saw it too. The throw didn't count for anything because it was a warmup throw, but they saw it.

"She's going to have to do it in two weeks. I'm not skeptical. I think I've got the best shot putter in the business, but it's time to show why I keep saying that now."