Christensen earns First Team All-America at NCAA Indoor Championships

After sneaking into the final round of the shot put Friday during the 2021 NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships, junior thrower Zoe Christensen vaulted from ninth to fourth to earn All-America First Team. She set a new personal record to record her second career All-America honor in the shot put.

Christensen took fourth in the shot put with a personal record throw of 49-feet-01.75-inches (14.98-meters). The personal record mark came during her fourth attempt after finishing the first three rounds in ninth, the final spot to qualify for the final three throws.

Christensen’s first throw of 13.51m ranked sixth followed by a throw of 14.01m to remain sixth heading into the final of the first three throws. Despite fouling on her final attempt, she qualified for the finals with a ninth-place ranking. Christensen followed up her personal record mark during her fourth attempt with throws of 14.84m and 14.64m in the fifth and sixth rounds, respectively.

The throw of 14.98m tied for eighth all-time indoors at Bemidji State, matching a mark set by the last BSU All-American thrower, Sheena Devine, in 2008.

West Texas A&M University senior Zada Swoopes won the event with a throw of 57-04.25 (17.48m).

Christensen also earned NCAA DII Indoor Championship All-America after qualifying for the 2020 national championships, which was canceled due to COVID-19. She joins Devine as the only BSU thrower to earn multiple All-America awards since at least 2002.