Senior Marcus Dozier practices leading up the NCAA
Division III Track and Field Championships.
Dozier finished 10th throwing 16.17 meters.
SAM CARAVANA / THE DEPAUW

Last Saturday, junior Marcus Dozier represented the Tigers at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships in the shot put.

Dozier qualified for the event after placing first at the North Coast Athletic Conference Indoor Championship the weekend before with a toss of 16.41 meters.

“It meant a lot for me because shot put was an event that I thought I would never qualify for at the national tournament at least till the end of my senior year,” Dozier said. “Because of the achievement, it pushes me to work even harder in shot [put] to become a top eight finisher during this upcoming outdoor season.”

The junior came into the championship meet seeded 15th out of 15 total competitors, however, that didn’t stop him on Saturday from exceeding that placement.

Dozier may have been just off his game a little bit at the event, as his throw in the preliminaries of 16.17 meters was enough to place him in 10th, however he fell one spot away from qualifying for the finals. Only the top nine competitors earned a spot in the championship heat.

“I felt a little pressure especially coming in as the under who barely made it in,” Dozier said. “Because of that I am happy with where I placed at 10th, five spots higher than my seed.”

Now Dozier and the rest of the Tigers will turn their attention to the upcoming outdoor season that begins on Saturday when they travel to Atlanta to compete in the Emory Invitational, however, don’t expect much to change from Dozier.

“Yes it’s a bit different such as the ball is now steel, the ring is concrete and you have to factor in the weather,” Dozier said. “Other than that, the form is still the same.”