Hanna earns fourth career conference athlete of the week honor

Competing collegiately for the first time in over a year, Bahamian throws athlete Tiffany Hanna proved that she is in fine form, turning in a couple of personal best performances at the Lehigh Season Opener at the Goodman Track and Field Complex in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, this past weekend.

Hanna, a 20-year-old senior who competes for the Wagner College Seahawks in New York, had a pair of top three performances, leading to her being named the Northeast Conference (NEC) Outdoor Field Athlete of the Week. It’s her fourth such conference of the week honor in four years at the school.

Hanna won the discus event, tossing the device 44.35 meters (m) – 145’ 6” – and finished third in the hammer throw with a launch of 48.68m (159’ 8”). Hanna’s huge performance in the discus came on her final throw, and her personal best effort in the hammer came on her third throw. Lehigh University Mountain Hawks senior Brittany Curtin won the hammer with a throw of 51.10m (167’ 8”) and Lafayette College Leopards senior Olivia Barney finished second with a toss of 49.85m (163’ 6”).

“I was somewhat nervous going into the event since I had not competed in an outdoor meet since my sophomore year. Needless to say, I was surprised by PRs (personal best 

performances) in both discus and hammer,” said Hanna. “I owe the quick comeback to my coach Blerim Pocesta as well as the Wagner College strength coaches, and as always, I’m thankful to God and my family.”

With her performances, Hanna is now No. 1 in the conference in both events and is creeping up on the school records of both. The school record in the discus is 44.68m (146’ 7”) and the school mark in the hammer throw is 48.83m (160’ 2”). Both records are more than 15 years old.

Hanna is also in the top 50 for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I East Region in the discus and is at number 70 in the hammer throw -– an event she just started competing in three years ago. Hanna also excels in the shot put and weight throw events.

Last year, the Bahamian athletic thrower set a school record in the women’s weight throw indoors with a toss of 18.28m (59’ 11-3/4”) at the NEC Indoor Track and Field Championships on Staten Island, New York – breaking a long-standing national record in the process. She didn’t get a chance to compete outdoors last season due to the season being canceled as a result of the ever-present nature of the COVID-19 pandemic around the United States.

Hanna is the reigning conference champion in the weight throw indoors and shared the NEC Most Outstanding Field Performer Award with Long Island University’s (LIU) senior Taylor Parker at the conference indoor championships last year.

In addition to the marks mentioned above, she has personal best performances of 12.58m (41’ 3-1/4”) in the shot put outdoors and 13.33m (43’ 8-3/4”) in the shot put indoors.

In total, the Seahawks won five events at the Lehigh Season Opener on Sunday, and will return to Bethlehem for the Lehigh Quad Meet on Saturday, April 3.

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