Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

UNLV quick hits:

Former Rebel sets new American record in women’s hammer throw

Silverado grad and London Olympics participant Amanda Bingson wins national championship in Iowa

Amanda Bingson - Hammer Throw

Sam Morris

UNLV track and field thrower Amanda Bingson swings through the first rotation of her throw during practice Tuesday. Bingson, a sophomore, recently set a new UNLV hammer throw record of 183 feet, 4 inches.

Click to enlarge photo

UNLV's Amanda Bingson is going to the London Olympics after finishing second in the hammer throw at the U.S. Olympic Trials.

If one American record is good, a second is even better. Competing Saturday at the USA Outdoor Championships in Des Moines, Iowa, former Rebel Amanda Bingson set a new American record in the hammer throw and then bested her own mark minutes later.

Bingson graduated from UNLV in 2012 after rewriting the record books, and the Silverado grad immediately qualified for the London Olympics with a throw of 235 feet, 6 inches. One year later she set the new American mark at 245-9 before outdoing herself again with a throw of 248-5, securing her first national championship.

Bingson was a surprise qualifier for last year’s Olympics — she finished 28th — but barring any unforeseen setbacks she is in position to go into the 2016 Rio Olympics as one of the event favorites.

Rebels Academics

In the past week, UNLV placed 77 student-athletes on the spring Academic All-Mountain West team and then had 48 honored with the 2012-13 Mountain West Scholar-Athlete Award. For the team, student-athletes must complete at least one term with at least a 3.0 GPA and be a starter or significant contributor to their team.

For the award, student-athletes must complete at least two terms with a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or better. Go to unlvrebels.com for a full list of the honorees.

Taylor Bern can be reached at 948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Taylor on Twitter at twitter.com/taylorbern.

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