Anttila Breaks New Ground at NCAA Indoor Qualifier

ABILENE – Abilene Christian's Ella Anttila extended the team's indoor track season, becoming the first NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships qualifier in ACU's Division I era.
 
Anttila qualified in the triple jump and puts her skills to the test on the highest collegiate indoor stage in Albuquerque, N.M. on March 11.
 
"Ella is an incredible competitor and she really proved herself in the WAC Championships," said ACU Head Track and Field Coach Jerrod Cook. "She's our first Division I qualifier and that's a huge step and a truly important moment for our program."
 
Anttila qualified by having one of the top 16 triple jumps in the nation. She cleared the 42-feet mark early on in the WAC Championship but was passed by Sam Houston's Jade Johnson on the fifth round of jumps. Anttila responded with a school-record bound of 43 feet, 7 inches (13.28 meters), and then cleared 13 meters again in her final jump, having already clinched the victory.
 
"I want her to enjoy this opportunity and take advantage of the moment," said Cook. "Great athletes rise to the occasion. She had never broken 13 meters twice in the same meet and now that's behind her. She's done that and I think that she's really going to take off now."
 
The women's triple jump begins at 3:45 p.m., Mountain time, in the Albuquerque Convention Center on the second day of the two-day meet.