Illinois College junior
Megan Stringer won the heptathlon at the Last Chance Qualifier at North Central College in Naperville on Wednesday, vaulting from a national ranking of 41st to 10th and sealing a spot in the field at the NCAA Division III Championships next weekend.
"It feels great," Stringer said. "It definitely helped having my teammates, coaches and family telling me I could do it. It was obviously my last chance and the support definitely helped."
Stringer scored 4,458 points to top the field. She was second in the long jump (18 feet, 3 3/4 inches) and fifth in both the javelin (100 feet, 2 inches) and 800-meter run (2:35.05) on Wednesday. She was second in both the 100-meter hurdles (15.35 seconds) and the high jump (5 feet, 1 1/4 inches), seventh in the 200-meter dash (27.30 seconds) and eighth in the shot put (28 feet, 7 inches) on Tuesday.
Stringer won the heptathlon despite an injury that has hampered her all season. Stringer had Tommy John surgery on her right arm before the track and field season started and has been throwing the shot put left-handed all year. She threw the javelin with her right arm just once on Wednesday, marking the first time all year she's thrown right-handed.
"There's definitely moments where you wish you had your right hand, but from Day 1 when I knew I had to have the surgery, I knew I was going to have to throw left-handed," she said.
Stringer will now make her second trip to the national track meet. She competed in the heptathlon as a freshman.
"The goal for me was to make it there," Stringer said. "Now the goal is to go out there and just have fun competing against the nation's best."
