By Con Marshall
Chadron State College senior Kyla Sawvell became a double All-American at the 2023 NCAA Division II National Indoor Track and Field Championship on Saturday at Virginia Beach, Va., by placing third in the shot put and claiming the bronze medal.
She also was fifth in the 20-pound weight throw on Friday for her first All-American honor at the meet.
Sawvell saved her best for last in the shot put. Her best throw of 15.34 meters was on her sixth and final attempt. Her mark converts to 50 feet, 4 inches on the English scale.
Prior to her final throw, her best was 48-2 ½, and it would not have placed among the top eight and led to All-American honors in the shot.
Sawvell also was the bronze medalist in the shot put at the 2021 Indoor Nationals while she was attending Black Hills State at Spearfish, S.D. Her third-place mark that year was 49-4 ¼.
After competing four years at Black Hills State, Sawvell transferred to Chadron State last fall to enroll in a graduate program that will enable her to become an athletic trainer. She had the additional year of eligibility because the 2020 indoor season was declared null and void after the national meet was cancelled and no outdoor season took place because of COVID 19.
She also will compete for the Eagles during the outdoor season that will begins later this month. She won 10 gold medals in the throws at Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Meets at Black Hills State, and added another this winter when she won the weight throw two weeks ago while wearing the Eagles’ uniform.
In addition, she was the silver medalist in the shot at the 2023 RMAC Meet. The winner of that competition was Katherine Higgins of Colorado State-Pueblo. On Saturday, Higgins finished second in the shot put at nationals with a mark of 51-3 ½. The winner was Trista Fintel of Findlay University in Ohio at 52-7 ½.
Sawvell was the only contestant to place in both the weight throw and the shot put at this year’s National Meet.
Her fifth-place mark in the weight throw measured 19.88 meters, or 65-2 ¾. The Eagles’ Daniel Reynolds of Granby, Colo., also was fifth in the men’s 35-pound weight throw Friday at 20.45 meters, or 67-1 ¼.