BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Redshirt senior Erin Reese was named a First Team All-American behind an incredible performance in the weight throw at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships at the Birmingham CrossPlex on Saturday evening.
 
"I feel pretty good, I'm really proud of her [Reese], her whole season and her career," Throws Coach Brandan Bettenhausen said. "She brought it all together here when it mattered most, so it was a good day."
 
The Mt. Prospect, Ill. native made it known that she is among the world's elite in the weight throw during the championships as she recorded a lifetime-best toss of 22.34m (73-03.50), the second-best throw in school history, en route to a fourth place finish for First Team All-American honors. Reese's mark trails only Sycamore legend Felisha Johnson's mark of 23.52m (77-02.00) in the record book and pushes her to the 14th-best mark in the entire world.
 
"I'm super excited to be a First Team All-American, it's been my goal since I started college," Reese said. "I knew coming in I could be top-eight, so coming in that was originally the goal, but I still had a PR I wanted to get."
 
Thanks to Reese's strong performance at the NCAA Indoor Championships, the Indiana State Women's Track & Field team ended the indoor season ranked 41st in the nation after taking 41st at the meet with five points.
 
"I wanted to hit 22-meters before I graduated and I was able to do that twice today, so I was really happy. Placing top-five and getting fourth was just the cherry on top," Reese said.
 
Reese became the first Sycamore since 2015 to earn First Team All-American honors when Alethia Marrero and Kimyanna Rudolph took fifth and eighth in the 800-meter run and pole vault, respectively, at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. She is also the first Sycamore to earn First Team All-American honors at the Indoor Championships since Katie Wise in the 60-meter dash during the 2014 season.
 
The theme of the preliminary round for Reese on Saturday was consistency. Just 14 centimeters separated all three of her throws and it was her second throw of 21.05m (69-00.75) which gave her a chance to compete for a title.
 
Three of the top-four throwers, including Reese, had career days in a loaded field of the weight throw. Sade Olatoye of Ohio State walked away an NCAA champion after posting the facility record and personal-best throw of 24.46m (80-03.00), which is third in the world, and Louisville's Makenli Forrest also earned a career-best mark of 22.54m (73-11.50) for second place.
 
The focus now turns to outdoor season where the Trees will open their season at the Vanderbilt Black and Gold Invitational on March 22 in Nashville, Tenn.
 
For the latest information on the Sycamore Track & Field teams, make sure to check out GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including Facebook and Twitter.