Plattsburgh State track and field sophomore Elisabeth Plympton gave a strong showing at the 2018 NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships March 9 and 10, earning All-American honors and SUNYAC Indoor Track Athlete of the Year in the process.
Plympton was pleasantly surprised with her results but expected to continue building into the outdoor season.
“It was definitely more than I expected,” Plympton said. “I’m still anticipating doing better next year because I didn’t even run as fast as I wanted to so I know that I improved this much, but I still have the ability to improve even more.”
Plympton ended up taking eighth in the nation in the 60-meter dash to get the All-American accolade, and took tenth place in the 200-meter preliminary rounds, falling just two spots short of making the finals in that event.
Head coach Nicholas Jones was impressed by his athlete’s growth from year to year.
“Just last year, she wasn’t even ranked in the top 50 in either event,” Jones said. “She was about 67th in the 60-meter and over 100th in the 200-meter. It just shows what making a conscious decision to be good and do the work over the summer does. She has earned everything she’s worked for.”
Plympton also broke her own Cardinal program record in the 60-meter, running a 7.68 second time in the preliminary round March 9.
Plympton’s final time in the 200-meter was 25.23 seconds.
Jones is confident that the All-American and SUNYAC honors will only fuel Plympton.
“I think it’s just going to help motivate her more to do better,” Jones said. “I know she wants to see in the future being All-American in both events.”
Plympton makes the third in a recent string of PSUC athletes that have made it to nationals in their respective sports, with Lauren Perschetz making nationals in cross country in fall 2016 and Stephanie Boucher making nationals in indoor and outdoor track in 2017.
This continued presence on the national stage has gotten people to start paying attention to the program, a feat Jones is proud of.
“People are starting to notice our team,” Jones said. “ [The women] finishing second in cross country and third in indoor track [both in the SUNYAC tournament] was tremendous and we’re hoping to keep that momentum up.”
Plympton was just happy to be taking a spot among that group of women.
“I’m happy to be able to be a part of it,” Plympton said. “It means a lot to me personally because both of those girls are role models that I look up to, so to be getting to the same level as them is awesome.”
Email Ben Watson at cp@cardinalpointsonline.com
