Schoeneman an All-American after taking 4th in shot put at nationals

By JASON JUNO

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Aubrey Schoeneman made it to the NCAA Division III indoor and outdoor track-and-field national championships last year for Carthage College and she finished the shot put in ninth place both times.

Top-10 finishes are excellent, obviously, but the Mercer graduate still had some unfinished business heading into this year. That’s because All-American status is only given to the top eight places.

She made sure it wasn’t so close this year.

Schoeneman finished fourth at the NCAA Division III indoor track-and-field championships last weekend in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

She’s an All-American.

“It feels great,” she said. “I had that chip on my shoulder to get All-American this time, so it feels great knowing that I accomplished that.”

Schoeneman took fourth with a mark of 14.37 meters (about 47.1 feet). She increased her distance from 13.9 meters at nationals last year.

“I had to switch to a rotation after high school, so I was learning more about it and more work with it helped me be a lot more comfortable,” she said.

It was her third time competing at a national event.

“I was super nervous,” Schoeneman said. “I had the previous years to fall back on and just remember and think about how the competition differs from year to year. I was more comfortable this year than the year before because I knew what to expect.”

She got the winning mark on the second throw of the day. Each athlete gets three throws in the prelims and then three more if they make the finals. Her second best throw was 13.91 meters.

“It wasn’t my best series, but it only takes one,” Schoeneman said.

Alexis Boykin of MIT won with a throw of 14.79 meters.

Carthage throws coach Greg Raimondi said in a release that her finish was the highlight of the meet’s second day for the school.

“She competed really well and executed like she has been all year, which highlights all the hard work she put in this season to be on that podium,” he said.

The outdoor season begins on March 29 with an invite in Illinois. The outdoor nationals are in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina May 23-25.

Schoeneman is a senior with one more year of eligibility, a COVID year.