Rivera Earns All-American Honors in Track and Field
The record-breaking indoor track and field season for Luis Rivera 鈥�16 culminated with an All-American performance in the 35-pound weight throw in March at the NCAA Division III Indoor Championships at the JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Rivera became the Golden Flyers鈥� first male field All-American as he finished in sixth place with a school-record heave of 19.29 meters (63 feet, 3-1/2 inches). The top eight finishers are named All-Americans. It marked the sixth time this winter that Rivera has broken his own school record.
鈥淗e was pretty excited,鈥� says Nazareth Head Coach James Goss. 鈥淭he first couple of throws he was getting the nerves out, then on the third throw he really nailed it.鈥�
Rivera had throws of 17.12 and 17.95 meters before nailing his record-breaking throw to enter the finals in fourth place. He dropped to sixth after the finals, but ended up 鈥渇inishing exactly where he was seeded,鈥� says Goss. 鈥淭his had to be one of the strongest fields they鈥檝e ever had for this event. And Luis was the only non-senior on the victory podium.鈥�
狈补锄补谤别迟丑鈥檚 Taylor Pierson 鈥�16 also competed for the Golden Flyers in the women鈥檚 long jump and finished 15th with a leap of 5.14 meters (16 feet, 10-1/2 inches). She finished in fifth place last season.
Luis Rivera '16