Wheeler 10th, Earns Second Team All-America Honors

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Central Michigan's Quiara Wheeler placed 10^th and earned Second Team All-America honors in the weight throw on Thursday at the NCAA Women's Indoor Track & Field Championships at the Randal Tyson Center on the campus of the University of Arkansas.

Wheeler is the fourth student-athlete in CMU women's indoor track & field history to earn All-America accolades.

Wheeler, who had the 14^th-best throw – 21.51 meters – entering the competition, tossed the weight 21.11 meters on her first throw of the day. It turned out to be her best and it ranks as the second best of her career behind her CMU program-record 21.51-meter throw, which she posted earlier this season.

"I felt really good, my body felt really good, I felt fast," said Wheeler, a senior from Flint. "My warmups were really, really good and that gave me confidence going into the competition that I knew I could do well, and I think I did do well.

"I'm just really, really grateful to have had this opportunity. I'm proud of myself. I'm usually really, really hard on myself, but I made it this far, I think I deserve to give myself a pat on the back for once. I'm happy. I'm not satisfied, but I am happy."

Makenli Forrest of Louisville won with a throw measuring 23.26 meters.

Though she is a senior, Wheeler has one year of eligibility remaining and she intends to use it. She could become the second in CMU women's indoor history to twice be named All-America after long jumper Nadia Williams accomplished the feat in 2019 and '20.

"I definitely have more in the tank, and I'm learning more every day," she said, adding that, while proud of her status as an All-American, she also learned plenty with the experience of competing alongside the best in the nation.

"I think that it's really important when you go into big meets like this to just be mindful that everybody is starting from scratch," she said. "Marks don't matter anymore. All that matters is what you throw at that meet. That's what I came here with and I threw my best; I was confident, I was relaxed, and I feel like I can take those things into future competitions."

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Players Mentioned

Quiara Wheeler

Nadia Williams