MSUB’s Wilson Competes for National Title

BILLINGS, Mont. – Montana State Billings track and field freshman standout, Nick Wilson, heads to the NCAA Division II Outdoor National Championships this weekend at Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, N.C. Wilson will be competing in the javelin throw, which he qualified for with an automatic mark he set in the Montana State Invitational April 10.

In Bozeman, Wilson bested his old mark by more than 12 feet with a throw of 208’-9”. His throw was the third best in conference history, becoming just the seventh athlete in Great Northwest Athletic Conference history to eclipse the 200 foot mark.

The Laurel, Mont. native enters the meet as the sixth seed in the event with a mark of 63.62 meters. Out of the three freshmen in the field of 16, Wilson is ranked the highest, and is also the highest ranked thrower out of the four GNAC athletes in the event.

Wilson is seeded just ahead of Western Washington’s Alex Harrison who won the GNAC Championships last week in Monmouth, Ore. They are joined by a pair of freshmen from Western Oregon, Will Crook, seeded 11th (61.57m) and Nathan Rowlett, seeded 16th (60.76m).

Overall, juniors Tyler Drake and Mike Beeler of Pittsburg State are the top two seeds in the event with throws of 70.16m and 68.24m, respectively. They are followed by Nick Howe of UC-San Diego (67.20m), Raymond Orlando (66.54m) and Jacob McDonald (64.32m) of Angelo State, and then Wilson and Harrison.

The meet record in the event is currently held by Kirt Thompson of Ashland with a throw of 256’-01” (78.05m). Thompson set the mark on May 25, 1996, winning the National Championship with the throw.

The throwers will each have three throws in the preliminary rounds before the final cut where eight throwers will get an additional three throws to determine a champion. While the championships begin tomorrow, Wilson and the rest of the field will not throw until the final day on Saturday.