won the NCAA Division II National Championship in the men's javelin Saturday at the Outdoor Track and Field National Championships at Grand Valley State University.
Reinhardt uncorked a huge personal best on his third and final throw of the preliminary round of 68.83 meters (225' 10") that not only put him in the finals, but stood up through the final round as the best mark on the day.
Entering Saturday's competition, Reinhardt had a personal best of 64.50 meters from earlier this season that made him the 11th seed at nationals.
His first two throws Saturday were just 56.96 meters and 59.77 meters and it looked as if Reinhardt wouldn't even make the nine-person finals, until he stepped up and uncorked the throw of his life on his final attempt.
Reinhardt earns his first career All-America honor with the win and becomes just the fifth individual in Slippery Rock history to win a men's outdoor track and field national championship. He is the first Rock male athlete to win a title since
Cameron Daugherty won the pole vault in 2012 and he is the second javelin thrower to win a title, joining Steve Rihel, who won the 1997 title.
Reinhardt was competing in the National Championships for the second time in his two-year Slippery Rock career after qualifying as a freshman last spring. He placed 15th in his first appearance at the national meet.
Saturday's National Championship marked the official end of the 2013-14 athletic season for Slippery Rock.
Slippery Rock Men's Outdoor Track and Field National Champions 1977 – Todd Wunderlich (pole vault)
1979 – George Crunkleton (100-meter dash)
1979 – George Crunkleton (200-meter dash)
1979 – George Crunkleton, Don Johns, Keith Hunter, Jim Stitt (4x400-meter relay)
1997 – Steve Rihel (javelin)
2012 –
Cameron Daugherty (pole vault)
2014 –
David Reinhardt (javelin)
Special thanks to Shippensburg University sports information director Bill Morgal for providing photos and video from the NCAA National ChampionshipsÂ
