PORTLAND, Ore. – In her first meet of the outdoor season
Corrie Holm threw just short of the national qualifying mark in the women's discus in a meet in Missoula, earning her the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Field Athlete of the Week announced by the conference office Monday.
Holm, a product of Billings West High School, threw a distance of 144'4" (44.00m) at the Al Manuel Invitational in Missoula, Mont. on Saturday, placing third in the women's discus. That mark automatically qualifies her for the conference outdoor championships held in Monmouth, Ore., May 8-9.
That mark also ranks sixth in GNAC history and missed the NCAA national qualifying standard by a scant .01 meters. Holm is leading the conference by 1.25 feet.
Holm is the reigning GNAC champion in the women's discus. She finished last season successfully defending her No. 1 conference ranking by winning the title at the outdoor championships.
Last season Holm was named all-region by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association in the women's discus by being one of the top-5 individuals in the west region during the outdoor track and field season.
"This was Corrie's personal record (PR) by three feet, which is great to see this early in the season," MSUB head coach
Dave Coppock said. "She's only 1 cm from the NCAA Championships provisional mark, so I'm sure she'll hit it this season. She's been working very hard this semester in school and will be graduating this spring, so I really have to give her a lot of credit for being able to pull everything together. She has a very good chance of repeating as conference champion."
Holm holds a 3.84 GPA in the classroom, and is graduating this spring with a degree in health and human performance. She is a two-time GNAC academic all-conference honoree, and last year was named to the USTFCCCA national all-academic team. She was honored as one of only 422 NCAA Division II women recognized for their combined academic and athletic accomplishments.
This Saturday, Apr. 4, Montana State University Billings is in Bozeman, Mont., for the Montana State Invitational hosted by the Bobcats.
