Wayne State junior Michaela Dendinger earned All-American honors in the hammer throw with a second-place finish Thursday at the NCAA Div. II National Outdoor Track and Field Championships at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.
A graduate of Hartington High School, Dendinger posted a top mark of 206 feet 1 inch, which came on her second throw in the preliminaries. Only an all-time best mark of 214-1 from Chadron State’s Mel Herl kept Dendinger from becoming a national champion in the hammer throw.
Four of Dendinger’s six throws in the hammer throw went over 200 feet. She recorded marks of 203-4, 206-1 and 204-2 in the preliminaries to advance to the finals. Dendinger then had throws of 194-1, 197-0 and 205-1 in the finals to post her first-ever All-American finish in the hammer throw and third overall All-American finish as a Wildcat (second in 2015 discus and seventh in 2015 shot put).
Dendinger will compete again on Friday afternoon in the discus at 1 p.m. and Saturday in the shot put at 12:15 p.m.
