Results
 
GENEVA, Ohio - Sophomore Holly Ferrara (Holland, Pa./Council Rock South) capped a sensational season for Gettysburg College by finishing fourth and earning All-American honors in the javelin throw competition at the 2022 NCAA Division III Outdoor Women's Track and Field Championships on Thursday. 
 
Ferrara became the first thrower in Bullets' history to achieve All-American status after recording a mark of 141 feet 3 inches in her first throw of the competition. That distance, which was her second-best throw of the spring, stood as the fourth-best in the field of the nation's top-22 throwers for the spring at the national championship meet, which was held at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio. 
 
Ferrara is just the fourth individual to earn All-American status and her national honor is the seventh in program history. She is also the first to become an All-American since Katie Cavanaugh '16 in 2016.
 
Only three competitors finished ahead of Ferrara on Thursday, with Pacific Lutheran's Ava Nelson winning gold with a mark of 150 feet 8 inches. George Fox's Chrissy Strickland claimed silver with a throw of 146 feet 6 inches, while Buena Vista's Rebecca Simpson took bronze with a distance of 144 feet 11 inches.
 
The top four finishers all recorded their best marks on their first throws of the day.
 
After her first throw, Ferrara posted marks of 116 feet 1 inch, 123 feet 7 inches, 138 feet 11 inches, 121 feet 1 inch, and 134 feet 7 inches in attempts two through six, respectively.
 
Ferrara entered Thursday's championship competition seeded fifth in the javelin throw competition. Earlier this month, she broke a 36-year-old school record with a toss of 144 feet 7 inches, shattering a mark previously set in 1986 by Denise Johnson '87.
 
Thursday's fourth-place result capped an outstanding sophomore season for Ferrara, who finished first in seven meets in the javelin. She won gold at the Centennial Conference Championships earlier this month to earn First Team All-Centennial Conference accolades.
 
Ferrara joins the exclusive list of Gettysburg's outdoor women's track & field All-Americans that includes Cavanaugh (100-meter hurdles in 2016), Beth Castagno (High Jump in 1998), and Stacy Spencer (100m & 200m in 1994 and 1995).
 
She also tied for the third-best finish by a Gettysburg competitor at the NCAA Championships on Thursday, matching Spencer's result in the 200-meter dash in 1995. Spencer was the runner-up in the 100-meter dash in 1994 while Castagno took third in the high jump in 1998.