Men's Track and Field | 3/13/2015 3:43:00 PM

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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Nazareth junior Luis Rivera's record-breaking indoor track and field season culminated with an All-American performance in the 35-pound weight throw Friday at the NCAA Division III Indoor Championships at the JDL Fast Track.

Rivera became the Golden Flyers' 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.

"He was pretty excited," said Nazareth coach James Goss. "The first couple of throws he was getting the nerves out, then on the third throw he really nailed it."

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 "finishing exactly where he was seeded," said Goss. "This had to be one of the strongest fields they've ever had for this event. And Luis was the only non-senior on the victory podium."

Mount Union's Sean Donnelly won the event with a meet-record toss of 21.75 meters (71 feet, 4 1/4 inches). Pat Weinert of Oneonta, John Dayton of Springfield, Grant Havard of Wisconsin-LaCrosse, and Sean Enos of Bates were the others who finished ahead of Rivera.

"He's shown great improvement all season," Goss said. "He's improved his footwork and he's risen to the occasion in the weight room."

Nazareth's Taylor Pierson also competed for the Golden Flyers in the women's 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.

"The indoor season was a bit of a struggle for Taylor," Goss said. "She had a hamstring injury and wasn't able to get the workouts in that she had last year. Hopefully, we'll be able to fix that when we get outdoors."