Wilson Finishes Tenth at National Meet

CHARLOTTE – It wasn’t the result that Montana State Billings track and field standout Nick Wilson was hoping for, but the Laurel, MT native took 10th place in the javelin event Saturday morning at the NCAA Division II National Championships held at the Irwin Belk Track Complex at Johnson C. Smith University.

“Tenth place as a freshman is something to be very proud of,” said head track and field coach, Dave Coppock. “Nick threw below his best marks but his elbow was giving him problems and he was never able to get really comfortable out there. Now he’ll have to come back and rehab over the summer to get ready for a repeat performance next year.”

The MSUB freshman was the highest placing freshman in the field of 16, which was won by UC San Diego’s Nick Howe. Howe had a best toss of 225’-00” (68.59m) in the finals, beating out Mike Beeler of Pittsburg State (66.86m) and Raymond Orlando of Angelo State (65.83) for the title.

Wilson had three throws in the first flight to try and qualify for the final round of nine throwers. In his first throw he landed well short of best throw with a toss of 52.17 meters. The second toss proved to be Wilson’s best with a mark of 58.19 meters. His third throw landed three meters shy of the second at 55.05 meters.

After the first flight concluded, Wilson was in sixth place, allowing room for three competitors to best his mark and still qualify for the finals. Standing in ninth with two throwers remaining on their second throw, Wilson was bumped out by Josh Hostetler of Shippensburg with a throw of 59.81 meters.

Today’s meet and the final performance by Wilson conclude the 2009-10 athletic seasons for Montana State Billings athletics. The track and field team returns next season during the indoor season as Wilson will look to improve his marks and return to the national stage once again.