Minnesota Scene: St. Francis' Maggie Ewen completes shot put-discus double at NCAA championships

Maggie Ewen ended the final NCAA women's track and field meet of her career as a two-event champion.

The Arizona State senior from St. Francis threw her discus 198 feet, 5 inches to win the event Saturday in Eugene, Ore.

"Discus is my favorite event and it's the one that's kind of been lagging behind a little bit over my career," Ewen said. "To come out and finish the way I did with the last throw in a really emotional environment, I couldn't be happier."

Ewen also won the shot put Thursday in 62-10¾, the second-best throw in NCAA outdoor championship history. She also won the NCAA shot put title during the indoor season.

Last year, Ewen won her first NCAA title with a record 240-7 in the hammer throw. She failed to qualify in that event this year.

Ewen is the fifth woman to win the shot put and discus at the same NCAA Division I championships, and the first since UCLA's Seilala Sua in 2000.

Saturday, she needed a good throw on her sixth and final attempt, because she entered it trailing the 195-9 of Kansas State's Shadae Lawrence. Valarie Allman of Stanford finished third. Gophers senior Agnes Esser placed 11th at 171-4.

Southern Califronia won the women's title in dramatic fashion, beating Georgia by a point when Kendall Ellis anchored the Trojans' 1,600-meter relay team to a victory over Purdue's Jahneya Mitchell at the line.

The Gophers men scored 10 points, on Obsa Ali's steeplechase victory Friday. Georgia won the NCAA men's title.

Gophers heptathlete Ayesha Champagnie recorded the event's top javelin throw (160 feet, 2 inches) Saturday and finished ninth with 5,740 points. The heptathlon was won by Wisconsin's Georgia Ellenwood with 6,146.

Gophers teammates Ashley Ramacher and Heta Tuuri finished tied for 12th at 5-8 in the high jump.

• Chris Grayson hit a three-run homer and also scored an insurance run in the ninth inning as Sioux Falls beat the Saints 5-3 at CHS Field. Brady Shoemaker hit a three-run homer for the Saints.