Cody Stilwell

Ferris State's Cody Stilwell Selected For 2019 NCAA D2 National Indoor Track Championships

Big Rapids, Mich. - Senior thrower Cody Stilwell (Cadillac) of the Ferris State University men's indoor track and field squad has been chosen to compete in the 2019 NCAA Division II National Indoor Championships.

Stilwell was selected to take part in this year's national indoor championships set for March 8-9 in Pittsburg, Kansas, in the men's weight throw. He will be one of 18 throwers to take part in the event, which is slated to take place inside the Robert W. Plaster Center on the Pittsburg State University campus.

The men's weight throw will take place on Friday, March 8, at 4:55 pm (CT) and Stilwell holds the nation's 11th-best throw overall at 19.81 meters this year heading into the national championships. The national meet will be hosted by Pittsburg State along with the Crawford County Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The 2019 Division II Men's and Women's Indoor Track & Field Championship will be held at the state of the art Robert W. Plaster Center at Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, Kan. The event format will feature both individual and team championships held over two days of competition. Day one starts with the men's heptathlon, preliminary races, field events and finishes with the men's and women's 5,000 meters and distance medley relay races.

Day two opens with the completion of the men's heptathlon as well as the women's pentathlon. Championships are up for grab as finals in all running events and field events take place throughout the afternoon and evening. The night comes to a close with the 4x400 relays as well as the crowning of both men's and women's team champions.

Dedicated in 2015, the Plaster Center features the 300-meter Harvey Dean Track and a 100-yard turf infield. The Harvey Dean Track is one of only a handful of university owned 300-meter tracks in the nation. Due to the surface, Pittsburg State was selected to host the 2016, 2018 & 2019 NCAA Division II Indoor Track Championships and the 2017 and 2019 NJCAA National Championships. The surface of Harvey Dean Track is Mondo Super X Performance; the same surface used at the 2011 Daegu World Championships and eight of the most recent Olympic Games. This prefabricated synthetic rubber track surface is comprised of two different layers that provides unparalleled support, elasticity and spike resistance.

This past weekend, Stilwell led the Bulldogs with a fifth-place finish in the weight throw (63-6.25) at the 2019 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Indoor Championships in University Center and again topped the NCAA Division II National qualifying mark.

A spring 2018 GLIAC Commissioner's Award recipient, Stilwell garnered All-America honors for the first time in his collegiate track and field career with a fifth-place performance in the hammer throw at the 2018 D2 National Outdoor Championships in Charlotte, N.C. He became only the second FSU male performer to earn All-America honors in the past eight years and his finish was the highest by a Bulldog men's outdoor track athlete since 1990.

A United States Track & Field/Cross Country Coaches Association All-American and All-Region pick a year ago, Stilwell finished third at the 2018 GLIAC Outdoor Championships in the hammer. Last season, he won the hammer throw and set a new school record with a performance of 62.58 meters at the Grand Valley State Al Owens Classic and also competed in the 2018 D2 National Indoor Championships in the weight throw.

Stilwell was an All-GLIAC honoree in both men's indoor and outdoor track and a GLIAC All-Academic Excellence Team selection last season.

During the indoor season this year, Stilwell finished among the top five throwers in six of his collegiate competitions, including two first-place performances and four top-three efforts.

Last year, Stilwell also competed in the D2 National Indoor Championships in Pittsburg and finished 11th overall in the men's weight throw in day one action with a performance of 19.27 meters for the Bulldogs.