Wayne State College junior Michaela Dendinger capped a trio of All-American performances at the NCAA Div. II Outdoor Track and Field Championships by winning the national championship in the shot put Saturday afternoon at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.
Dendinger set the tone for the event on her first throw in the preliminaries, unleashing an all-time best mark of 54 feet, 9 1/4 inches to break the school record of 54-0 1/2 set by Sara Wells at the 2015 NSIC Outdoor Championships. Other throws for Dendinger in the preliminaries included 52-5 1/4 and 50-7 1/2.
In the finals, she recorded throws of 54-7 1/2, 49-9 and 53-5 1/2 to maintain her advantage of one foot and nine inches over runner-up Mel Herl of Chadron State. She posted four of the top five throws in the shot put at nationals and was the only athlete to record a mark of over 53 feet in the competition.
Dendinger becomes the first ever three-time individual NCAA Div. II All-American in Wayne State outdoor track and field history after placing second Thursday in the hammer throw and sixth place in the discus on Friday. It’s the second time that Dendinger has collected All-American honors in the shot put after placing seventh at the 2015 national meet.
The 21 team points Dendinger scored put Wayne State in 12th place in the final team standings, the team's best finish since an eighth-place finish in 2015.
