Friday, March 11
Birmingham, AL
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Ball State University
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NCAA Indoor Championships
Photo by: Mercedes Oliver/Ball State Athletics
Griffith earns All-American honors at NCAA Indoor Championships
March 12, 2022 | Track & Field
Arlington, Ind. native picks up second-team recognition in both high jump and pentathlon
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Ball State track and field's Charity Griffith earned Second Team All-American honors after competing in the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, Friday and Saturday in Birmingham, Ala.
Griffith placed 15th nationally in the high jump at 1.73m (5-8) and 16th in the country in the pentathlon with 2,716 points.
She became one of two in the Ball State record book to be a multi-event All-American in the same season, joining Patricia Soman, who competed in the long jump and triple jump in 2003.
"We're extremely proud of Charity and all of accomplishments this year - setting two school records in the multi and the high jump, being the first person in our program to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships in 13 years," head coach Adrian Wheatley said. "As a staff and as a program, we're extremely proud of her. How she competed this weekend gave her an insight as to what it takes to compete as this level.
"Every champion goes through adversity. The real testament is how she went out and competed both days. She will take her experiences here and use them in preparation for the rest of her time here competing at the conference level and competing at the national championships."
The Arlington, Ind. native is the first student-athlete in program history to earn qualification in the high jump and pentathlon events at the indoor championship. Griffith became the sixth Cardinal in program history to earn qualification to the annual championship meet and the first since Amber Williams in 2009.
"It's a big accomplishment to make it here," Wheatley added. "The one thing that we want to continue to touch upon is that everything we do is a dress rehearsal for the big show. You have to be able to get here to understand what the big show looks like, and we will then use what we did here in preparation for the next time we have an opportunity. We'll use this opportunity as a staff and a program to continue to pull this program in the direction that we want it to go."
Griffith placed 15th nationally in the high jump at 1.73m (5-8) and 16th in the country in the pentathlon with 2,716 points.
She became one of two in the Ball State record book to be a multi-event All-American in the same season, joining Patricia Soman, who competed in the long jump and triple jump in 2003.
"We're extremely proud of Charity and all of accomplishments this year - setting two school records in the multi and the high jump, being the first person in our program to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships in 13 years," head coach Adrian Wheatley said. "As a staff and as a program, we're extremely proud of her. How she competed this weekend gave her an insight as to what it takes to compete as this level.
"Every champion goes through adversity. The real testament is how she went out and competed both days. She will take her experiences here and use them in preparation for the rest of her time here competing at the conference level and competing at the national championships."
The Arlington, Ind. native is the first student-athlete in program history to earn qualification in the high jump and pentathlon events at the indoor championship. Griffith became the sixth Cardinal in program history to earn qualification to the annual championship meet and the first since Amber Williams in 2009.
"It's a big accomplishment to make it here," Wheatley added. "The one thing that we want to continue to touch upon is that everything we do is a dress rehearsal for the big show. You have to be able to get here to understand what the big show looks like, and we will then use what we did here in preparation for the next time we have an opportunity. We'll use this opportunity as a staff and a program to continue to pull this program in the direction that we want it to go."
Players Mentioned
High Jump
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