Wayne State senior thrower Michaela Dendinger posted a new school record throw of 212 feet, 3 inches Thursday afternoon in the hammer throw to win the national title at the NCAA Div. II Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Charlotte, N.C.
Dendinger, recorded the winning toss on her second throw in prelims, breaking her own school record of 208-5 set last year at the NSIC Championships. She withstood a late challenge from NCAA indoor weight throw national champion Destiney Coward of Southern Connecticut State to win the hammer throw title and claim her second national title, adding it to last year’s outdoor shot put championship. It is her eighth All-American finish.
Entering the finals, Dendinger held a lead of six feet, six inches over Coward, but Coward posted a mark of 210-1 on her second attempt in finals to get within two feet, two inches of Dendinger. Dendinger’s throws in finals were 197-0, 196-1 and 201-6.
Dendinger will compete two events on Saturday. She is the defending national champion in the shot put and has the top mark in the country entering Saturday’s competition at 10:15 a.m., and will throw in the discus Saturday at 3 p.m., where she is ranked sixth in NCAA Div. II entering the national meet.
In men’s action, redshirt freshman Cade Kalkowski posted a 14th place finish in the hammer throw Thursday afternoon. Senior Derek Lahm began competition in the decathlon, but suffered an injury after the first event in the 100-meter dash and had to withdraw from the remainder of the event.
Kalkowski was fourth in his flight and 14th overall out of 20 competitors with a top mark of 190-9, which came on his second attempt in prelims. Kalkowski entered nationals as the 20th and final qualifier and was the NSIC hammer throw champion earlier in the month at 190-10.
Lahm opened Thursday’s competition in the decathlon with a seventh-place finish in the 100-meter dash at 11.20 seconds, but suffered an injury at the end of the race and was not able to compete in the long jump and other remaining events on the first day of the two-day, 10-event competition.
Lahm was the NSIC decathlon champion with a new school-record point total of 6,951 points and entered the NCAA Div. II nationals with the 13th best regular season point total out of 16 qualifiers.
