Grand Valley State’s Darien Thornton sets NCAA Division II meet record

The claps started slowly, building faster and faster with each rotation Darien Thornton made. His last heave didn’t mean much for the outcome of the men’s hammer throw event at the NCAA Division-II Track and Field Championships on Thursday at IMG Academy.

The Grand Valley State (Allendale, Mich.) senior already sewed up his first national title with a record performance earlier in the competition.

Thornton launched a 71.21-meter hammer throw to break the national meet record that stood since 2012 when Ashland’s Ryan Loughney tossed the hammer 70.74 meters.

“I had a good opening mark,” Thornton said. “That opening mark gave me the confidence just to go after one. And I caught one, and it just flew.”

Thornton’s first toss traveled just shy of 70 meters, before the record-setting toss.

Unlike track and field competitors at the high school level in Florida, Thornton grew up in Ohio where the hammer throw was part of the track and field program. He learned how to throw it then.

So when Thornton arrived at Grand Valley State, he quickly dismissed the notion that he’d have to redshirt his freshman season.

“The first competition, I threw what would’ve been a school record, so they were like, ‘Oh OK, we’ll take off the redshirt,’” Thornton said.

A nine-time All-American, Thornton never claimed a national title prior to Thursday’s performance. He previously recorded a third and fourth place finish in the outdoor season’s national championship in the hammer throw.

“It was my last go-around, so I wanted to leave here with no regrets,” Thornton said. “Make my last collegiate competition in the hammer with a national championship. Finished on top.”

Now he has one more event, the shot put, to compete in at Bradenton’s IMG Academy, before turning his attention to the mid-June announcement that will decide if he’s qualified for the United States Olympic Trials.

“I’m like 95 percent sure,” Thornton said. “The only way I wouldn’t get in is if they didn’t take 24 people, if they only took the standard (72 meters) but there’s only seven people that have hit the standard.”

Added Grand Valley State assistant coach Sean Denard: “He’s most likely going to compete there, and he’s probably top-10 right now in America.”

Some other champions crowned Thursday included Central Missouri’s Heavin Warner (women’s hammer throw), Chadron State’s Damarcus Simpson (men’s long jump) and Missouri Southern’s Emily Presley (women’s pole vault).

Warner set a meet record with a hammer throw of 69.33 meters, breaking the old mark that stood since 2002 by nearly five meters. Simpson’s long jump title came after a mark of 8.04 meters. The NCAA D-II Outdoor Track and Field National Championships continues Friday and concludes Saturday.

This story was originally published May 26, 2016 at 10:20 PM with the headline "Grand Valley State’s Darien Thornton sets NCAA Division II meet record."