EUGENE, Oregon – Gardner-Webb's Krista Chauvin made history Thursday afternoon, with one of Track & Field's most storied venues as the backdrop.

Chauvin (Seekonk, Mass. / UMass-Dartmouth) finished 19th overall in the women's hammer competition at historic Hayward Field, missing second-team All-America honors (top-16) by less than one foot.

The graduate student became the first woman in Gardner-Webb history to compete at the NCAA Division I Track & Field Championships, joining former men's hammer thrower Alex Young (2014) as the lone outdoor qualifiers for the biggest stage for collegiate competition.

Pole Vaulter Elliott Haynie qualified indoors in 2008.

Chauvin's best throw on Thursday sailed 57.85 meters (189'9"), only three one-hundredths of a meter out of 18th and just eight tenths out of 16th position. The distance was the fifth-best of the season for Chauvin – just off her NCAA preliminary round throw of 57.95 meters.

The All-Big South performer broke her own school record with a throw of 59.23 at the 2015 Big South Outdoor Track & Field Championships in May and shattered the Gardner-Webb record four different times this past spring. All of Chauvin's best marks this season were ahead of the previous school record in the discipline.

Southern Illinois junior DeAnne Price won gold Thursday with her throw of 71.49 meters – which broke the NCAA meet record set in 2007 by Jenny Dahlgren (Georgia).

Chauvin wrapped up her lone season competing at Gardner-Webb as a two-sport All-Big South Conference selection. She was a second-team choice in women's soccer after helping the Runnin' Bulldogs to a significant level of improvement during the fall as a goal keeper.

Prior to joining the Gardner-Webb programs, Chauvin earned NCAA Division III All-America honors in Track & Field, finishing fifth in the hammer throw at the 2013 Outdoor Track & Field Championships.