To get an idea of how much the level of the NCAA women's hammer throw has increased in one year, just look at the results from last year's NCAA Championships. Gwen Berry placed 4th with 61.31m. This year, she has the best mark of the season with 70.52m and sixteen other throwers have surpassed that mark during the regular season. Four women enter the meet with bests over 68 meters, making this year's final very difficult to predict. I am going with Amanda Bingson (UNLV) since she has yet to lose to a collegiate throwing in 2011. She not only beat strong competition at the NCAA West Regional, but she also put in strong showings against professional throwers at Mt. SAC and the UCSD Invitational in April. Even on a bad day she is one of the top throwers in America. East Region champion Dorotea Habazin (Virginia Tech) and West Region runner-up Jeneva McCall (Southern Illinois) should be Bingson's closest competition. Habazin was the runner-up last year, while McCall placed second at this year's NCAA indoor championships.

The two biggest wildcard will be Berry and defending champion Nikola Lomnicka (Georgia). As mentioned above, Berry has the top mark of the season but has been less consistent than some of the other top throwers. Lomnicka was the class of the field last year, but has shown a little rust this year after some off-season injuries. She has thrown better lately and may be rounding into form at just the right time. Foreigners and cross-town rivals Jenny Ozorai (USC) and Ida Storm (UCLA) will battle for the top freshman honors. Ozorai has a 3-1 record in four meetings between the pair this year.

Women's Hammer Throw Predictions
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     Name                        Year School          Season Best
=================================================================
  1  Amanda Bingson                JR UNLV                 69.79m
       Performance List: 2nd   Average 2011 Result: 67.90m
       Regionals: 1st West     NCAA 2010: Did not qualify

  2  Dorotea Habazin               SR Virginia Tech        68.36m
       Performance List: 3rd   Average 2011 Result: 66.36m
       Regionals: 1st East     NCAA 2010: 2nd

  3  Jeneva McCall                 SR Southern Illinois    68.07m
       Performance List: 4th   Average 2011 Result: 66.33m
       Regionals: 2nd West     NCAA 2010: 5th

  4  Nikola Lomnicka               JR Georgia              64.70m
       Performance List: 5th   Average 2011 Result: 63.16m
       Regionals: 3rd East     NCAA 2010: 1st

  5  Gwen Berry                    SR Southern Illinois    70.52m
       Performance List: 1st   Average 2011 Result: 63.96m
       Regionals: 4th West     NCAA 2010: 4th (61.31m)

  6  Laura Igaune                  SR Western Kentucky     64.44m
       Performance List: 7th   Average 2011 Result: 63.22m
       Regionals: 2nd East     NCAA 2010: Not enrolled

  7  Jenny Ozorai                  FR USC                  64.70m
       Performance List: 6th   Average 2011 Result: 62.00m
       Regionals: 5th West     NCAA 2010: Not enrolled

  8  Chelsea Cassula               JR UNLV                 64.24m
       Performance List: 8th   Average 2011 Result: 60.72m
       Regionals: 3rd West     NCAA 2010: Did not qualify

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