Topal earns fourth All-American award with 3rd place finish at NCAA Championships

Allendale, Mich. --- Senior Annie Topal from the New Mexico Highlands women's track & field squad gave everything she could get out of herself to finish third place in the triple jump at the 2021 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Allendale, Michigan.
 
Annie completed only three times this year in the triple jump, an event she has been at the top of the leader board nationwide since taking home the national title in 2019. Topal came in to the event with a provisional qualifying mark of 12.87 meters (42'2.75"), which she marked at the CSU Pueblo Spank Blasing Open on March 26^th, 2021. Through the tough coronavirus year, Annie pushed through to sit 5^th in the NCAA performance list going in to the NCAA Championships, where she also qualified for the long jump with a PR mark of 6.10 meters at the 2021 RMAC Championships.
 
Topal started the Championships with the long jump where she finished 14^th overall with a mark of 5.64 meters (18'6") on Thursday afternoon. In the second flight of jumpers in the triple jump on Friday, Annie moved to second place on her second attempt, which was her longest of the afternoon, with a mark of 12.87 meters, before West Texas A&M Taylor Nelloms took the lead in her 4^th attempt with a mark of 13.29 meters. Topal finished 3rd place out 16 jumpers to earn her fourth All-American award of her career and the 56^th All-American award in NMHU programs history.
 
Topal plans to return next season for her final year of eligibility and will work towards earning her master's degree.
 
GO COWGIRLS!!