McArthur Crowned ACC Champion in Men's Indoor Shot Put

Saturday, February 23

Blacksburg, Va.

All Day

North Carolina

ACC Indoor Track & Field Championships

Photo by: Michael Shroyer, the ACC

February 24, 2019 | Track & Field

Complete Results

BLACKSBURG, Va. - Redshirt sophomore Daniel McArthur won the ACC title in the men's shot put on Saturday at the 2019 ACC Indoor Track & Field Championships in Virginia Tech's Rector Field House. The Mooresville, N.C. native dominated the field and threw his second-best mark of the season,64-3 3/4 (19.60 meters), to win the event by nearly four and a half feet.

"It's an amazing feeling to win an ACC Championship," McArthur said. "My dad competed in the ACC back when he was at NC State so we started this journey a long time ago. He always said, 'If you follow me, I'll get you there.' It's just one of those things where it's nice to see it finally paying off. For me to bring that home for myself and for my dad and for my family is incredible."

McArthur took the lead right off the bat, hitting 63-9 3/4 (19.45 meters) to close out the first round. His shortest throw of the day — 62-8 (19.10 meters) — still bested second place (59-8 1/2) by three feet.

"On that first throw, I went out there and wanted to get a mark that people wouldn't be able to contest. With NCAAs coming up, I knew I would only get three throws for sure against the top 16 in the nation. If all I was going to get were those three throws, I wanted to get my best mark out there as fast as I could.

"I know I thought in my head — and I may have said it out loud — but I knew my first throw was good. I didn't have a great warm-up and I had an issue where the ball kept falling out of my hand, but after that first throw I knew I was ready to compete. I thought to myself, 'Okay, I'm here.'"

The Tar Heels had a number of athletes hit lifetime-best and season-best marks in their final appearances of the indoor season. On Friday, sophomore Anna Keefer finished second in the women's long jump after hitting an indoor personal best of 20-6 1/2 (6.26 meters) on her last attempt. Senior Anna Eaton also cleared a career-best height of 13-8 1/2 (4.18 meters) in the indoor pole vault for the third all-time performance in UNC history.

In the mile, senior Morgan Ilse and junior Alex Milligan each qualified for Saturday finals with phenomenal prelim races. Ilse entered the women's mile final as the No. 1 seed with the second-best time of her career and Milligan pulled off back-to-back phenomenal closes in the men's mile prelims and finals and set a new personal record of 4:07.70 to earn the seventh seed.

"I honestly thought back to Anna [Keefer] and how she competed and how she put it all together on her last jump," McArthur said. "When you have teammates who can put it together on the day it matters, you think to yourself 'If they can do it, I can do it.' If you can put it together on that last chance, why risk not leaving it all out there? I already knew I won since I was the very last throw of the day, but I thought about Anna, I thought about my teammates, I thought about my past experiences. And I thought 'This is my last throw. Why not go for it?' It was great to have my teammates perform with that mentality because it gave me that boost to believe I could do it too."

Earlier this season, McArthur also made Carolina history by setting a new personal record of 64-10 1/2 (19.77 meters) in the men's shot put to break a 14-year-old school record previously held by four-time Olympian Vikas Gowda. His season best currently ranks seventh in the nation and McArthur is expected to represent North Carolina at the 2019 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in Birmingham, Ala. from March 8-9.

The Tar Heels finished in a tie for 10th place in the women's team standings and placed 12th in the men's team competition.

TEN TAR HEELS EARN ALL-ACC HONORS
Senior Morgan Ilse (Dunwoody, Ga.) earned her fifth All-ACC accolade on Saturday after claiming the runner-up finish in the women's mile with a final time of 4:43.05. Ilse ran the best time in the prelims to clock the second-best performance of her career (4:40.37).

Sophomore Anna Keefer (St. Michael Albertville, Minn.) kicked off the Tar Heels' All-ACC performances by setting a new indoor personal record of 20-6 1/2 (6.26 meters) in the women's long jump on Friday to finish with first-team All-ACC honors. Keefer has become a significant contributor to the North Carolina women's team, winning the women's indoor long jump title as a freshman in 2018 and clocking the third-fastest 60 meter time (7.44) in UNC history at the Gamecock Inaugural in January. She also competed in the women's 60 at the ACC Indoor Championship and finished just one one-hundredth of a second off her personal record.

Senior Anna Eaton (Cary, N.C.) set an indoor personal record in the women's pole vault for the third time this season at the conference championships and finished sixth for second-team All-ACC accolades. Her height of 13-8 1/2 (4.18 meters) ranks third in school history.

Sophomore Peighton Simmons (High Point, N.C.) jumped a lifetime-best 41-10 (12.75 meters) to finish fifth in the women's triple jump for second-team All-ACC honors. Her performance marks the second time this season that Simmons has set an indoor career record after first jumping 40-10 1/4 (12.45 meters) at Clemon's Tiger Paw Invitational.

Junior Liam Dixon (Mooresville, N.C.) earned his first All-ACC accolades at the 2019 ACC Indoor Track & Field Championships on Saturday in the men's pole vault competition. Dixon topped off his indoor season with a lifetime-best height of 16-2 3/4 (4.95 meters) to tie for sixth place and to earn second-team All-ACC honors.

The men's 4x400 lineup of Brandon Cachon, Ryan Saint-Germain, Jadon Johnson and Isaiah Palmer finished third in the final event of ACC Indoors with a time of 3:12.05. The relay earned Carolina its final second-team All-ACC performance of the three-day championship.

OTHER CAROLINA TOP EIGHT HIGHLIGHTS
Alex Milligan (State College, Pa.) pulled off a phenomenal close in the men's mile prelim to set a new personal record of 4:07.70 before stunning the crowd yet again in the final and jumping three spots in the last three laps to place seventh in 4:40.75.

Sophomore Isaiah Palmer (Plano, Texas) also contributed to the Tar Heels' men's team score with his seventh-place finish in the 400 meters. Palmer clocked 47.68 in the final after running 47.18, his second-best time of the season, in the prelims.

Senior Drew Pedersen (Cary, N.C.) cleared a collegiate-best height of 5-11 (4.85 meters) in the men's pole vault competition to finish in a tie for eighth place.

Graduate student Alex Cooke (Lowgap, N.C.) narrowly missed All-ACC honors after finishing seventh in the women's weight throw with a mark of 65-6 (19.96 meters).

OTHER CAROLINA HIGHLIGHTS
Women
• Freshman Emerson Porter matched her personal-best pole vault height of 13-0 3/4 (3.98 meters).
• Sophomore Lindsey Lanier ran the fastest 5,000-meter race of her career, clocking 17:07.79 in the unseeded final.
• Freshman Lauryn Hall just missed her lifetime-best 60 meter dash (7.56) and finished the ACC prelims in a collegiate-best 7.57.
• Freshman Nicole Barnes ran a personal-best time of 8.44 in the 60-meter hurdle prelims.

Men
• Sophomore Dontavian Smith ran a personal-best 6.79 in the men's indoor 60 to move into a tie for second all-time in the history of Carolina track & field.
• Redshirt-junior Joey Souza hit his best long jump mark of the season — 23-9 1/2 (7.25 meters) to finish ninth overall.
• Redshirt-sophomore Marcus Krah jumped 23-3 1/4 (7.09 meters) for a new career record in the men's indoor long jump.

ACC CHAMPION
Daniel McArthur - Shot Put • 64-3 3/4 (19.60m)

FIRST-TEAM ALL-ACC
Daniel McArthur • Shot Put • 64-3 3/4 (19.60m), 1st
Anna Keefer • Long Jump • 20-6 ½ (6.26m), 2nd
Morgan Ilse • Mile • 4:43.05, 2nd

SECOND-TEAM ALL-ACC
Peighton Simmons • Triple Jump • 42-10 (12.75m), 5th
Anna Eaton • Pole Vault • 13-8 1/2 (4.18m), 6th

Men's 4x400 (Cachon, Saint-Germain, Johnson, Palmer) • 3:12.05, 3rd
Liam Dixon • Pole Vault • 16-2 3/4 (4.95m), T-6th

FINAL WOMEN'S STANDINGS
1. Miami 91
2. Florida State 85
3. Virginia Tech 84
4. Louisville 63
5. Duke 60
6. NC State 58
7. Clemson 39
8. Notre Dame 33
9. Virginia 31
10 North Carolina 29
10. Syracuse 29
12. Wake Forest 23
13. Georgia Tech 20
14. Pitt 12
15. Boston College 4

FINAL MEN'S STANDINGS
1) Virginia Tech 117
1) Florida State 117
3) NC State 61
4) Clemson 51
5) Virginia 49
6) Notre Dame 41
7) Syracuse 33
8) Georgia Tech 32
9) Duke 30.5
10) Louisville 29
11) Miami 28
12) North Carolina 23
13) Pitt 22
14) Wake Forest 20.5
15) Boston College 6

UP NEXT: Daniel McArthur is expected to travel to Birmingham, Ala. for the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships (Mar. 8-9) in hopes of capturing a national title in the men's shot put. The remainder of the Tar Heels set their sights on the outdoor season with the first outdoor meet just three weeks away - the Yellow Jacket Invitational (Mar. 15-16) in Atlanta, Ga.