SAN ANGELO, Texas ? UC San Diego junior thrower Danielle Thu was one of six national champions crowned on the opening day of the 2009 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field National Championships at the LeGrand Sports Complex in San Angelo, Texas.

Thu claimed the national title in the women's hammer throw, besting the field by better than 13 feet with a toss of 198'8”. Her championship mark came on her second throw of the prelims and set a new school record in the event, surpassing her previous best of 189'6”.

Defending national champion Linda Rainwater is currently third in the heptathlon with 3,167 points after the first day of competition, trailing Angelo State's Aisha Adams (3,374) and Lincoln's AnnaKay Campbell (3,246). The Goleta, Calif. native placed first in the high jump with a leap of 5'8.75” and finished second in the shot put with a mark of 37'2.5”.

Teammate Stephanie LeFever is in 10th place in the heptathlon with 2,963 points after finishing seventh in the shot put (33'8”) and ninth in the 200 meter dash (25.98).

Action continues on the Angelo State campus Friday morning with the final events in the decathlon and heptathlon. The decathlon resumes at 8:00 a.m. PDT, while the heptathlon resumes at 9:00.

Five more national champions will be crowned Friday as the men's and women's shot put, men's high jump, women's triple jump and the women's pole vault will be contested. Junior Casey Ryan will represent the Tritons in the high jump.