Hard work beats talent, when talent doesn’t work hard.

 
Senior thrower Bryan Dunn went into the 2016 NCAA Division II National Track and Field meet in Pittsburg Kansas ranked 13th in the nation for the weight throw and returned to Wayne ranked 6th with an NCAA trophy and All-American honors.

 
“As I prepared for my last indoor meet of my career, I can’t explain the feeling I had knowing I was performing at the national level,” Dunn said. “The years I’ve put into this event and the summers of working my tail off have finally paid off.”

 
Dunn threw a personal best of 63’5” in prelims to advance to the finals. He threw only 61’10 ½”, but his prelims mark was able to place him.

 
Dunn earned 6th place out of 16 of Div. II’s best weight throwers in the country. This earned him All-American Honors and a place in Wayne State history, joining Ross Bunchek, who also received All-American honors in the weight throw in the 2011 and 2012 seasons.

 
“Words can’t express how proud I am of Bryan,” throwers coach Brett Suckstorf said. “We had some extremely good technical practices going into the meet and we knew that if he could execute the technique and be in good peaking shape, that would lead to a big throw. He executed the plan to perfection and had a PR and that led him to become an All-American.”

 
With this accomplishment, the Wildcats put a cap on the indoor season and now will focus on the outdoor season, which is fast approaching.

 
The men’s and women’s track and field teams have a full week of practice until their first outdoor meet next Tuesday and Wednesday in Wayne at Leroy Simpson Field, where the Wildcats will host the 2016 Wildcat Classic.