Wayne State senior thrower Michaela Dendinger was voted by league coaches as the Northern Sun Conference Women’s Indoor Field Athlete of the Year.
The Coleridge native and graduate of Hartington High School was the NSIC champion in the shot put and weight throw and ranks first nationally in the shot put and second in the weight throw entering next weekend’s NCAA Div. II Indoor National Track and Field Championships in Pittsburg, Kan.
She recorded new school records in both events this year, unleashing a throw of 65 feet, 6 inches at the NSIC Indoor Championships last weekend to win the event and now rank second in NCAA Div. II. The old school mark was 64-5 1/4 set by Carly Fehringer in 2013. Dendinger also won the shot put at the NSIC Championships and set a new school record earlier this year with a heave of 54-10 1/2 at the Sevigne Husker Invite in Lincoln on Feb. 2.
Dendinger was a three-time NSIC Women’s Indoor Field Athlete of the Week this season and was voted before the season as the NSIC Women’s Preseason Field Athlete of the Year.
This marks the fifth time since 2005 that a Wildcat athlete has won NSIC Women’s Indoor Field Athlete of the Year honors. Other recipients include Carly Fehringer (2014), Paige Pollard (2012), Katie Wilson (2006) and Tanna Walford (2005).
