ROCK HILL, SC—Fresh off her third place hammer throw finish and earning All-American honors at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Winthrop junior Marthaline Cooper has been voted the 2016 Big South Conference Women's Field Athlete of the Year by the league's head coaches.
 
Cooper (Providence, RI) had an amazing year as she captured both the Big South Conference indoor weight throw and outdoor hammer throw championships, qualified for both the NCAA indoor and outdoor championships and earned All-American honors at both championships.  She is now a three-time All-American, including two All-American titles the indoor weight throw event, and is the first repeat winner of the Female Field Athlete of the Year.
 
Along the way, she broke the school records for the weight throw and hammer throw and has qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials that will be held in July at the University of Oregon in Eugene, OR.
 
"This has been an unbelievable year and even more unbelievable accomplishments for Marthaline," said Winthrop head coach Ben Paxton. "She stayed calm and focused even when she was struggling technically. She has a knack for coming up big in championship settings."
 
Paxton as happy that the conference recognized Cooper for the second straight year. "I am looking forward to watching her throw for the Eagles in the future."

She won her second consecutive weight throw title at the Big South Indoor Track & Field Championship in late February with a toss of 21.19 meters -- more than three meters better than the runner-up.  She qualified for the NCAAs following her school-record throw of 21.94 meters Feb. 19 at the Virginia Tech Challenge, which was the second-longest throw in the nation.  Cooper recorded a 6th-place standing in the National meet with a throw of 21.24 meters in March. 

During the outdoor season, she captured third place in the hammer throw at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championship in Eugene with a school-record distance of 65.21 meters (213-11) last week.  Her standing is the highest finish for a Winthrop athlete in the NCAA Championships (both indoor and outdoor).  She qualified for Eugene for the second straight year following her 10th-place finish at Prelims, and was the Big South hammer throw champion for the third consecutive season.  She won the event by 3.5 meters as she reached 61.53 meters on her fourth attempt.  A  four-time Big South Athlete of the Week honoree in 2015-16, Cooper broke her own school hammer throw record at Nationals, as set initially set the mark on March 25 with a distance of 64.04 meters at the Winthrop Adidas Invitational.
Her bronze medal vaulted the Winthrop women's team to a No. 42 national ranking..