Noxon’s Cade VanVleet, a record-setting athlete at Montana Tech, reached the pinnacle of his sports career by claiming the NAIA indoor national championship in the shot put in record fashion Saturday in the national meet in Gainesville, Florida, winning his first-ever national title.

VanVleet put the shot 17.73 meters (58 feet, 2 inches) on his second throw in Gainesville and watched that mark stand up the rest of the way to easily win the competition.

Cade’s winning throw matched the facility record at the Alachua County Sports & Events Center at Celebration Pointe, where the meet was held in Gainesville. No other competitor managed to clear 57 feet as VanVleet won impressively, by almost two feet over the second place winner in the shot put.

VanVleet won second place in the NAIA indoors in the shot and discus as a junior last year and placed seventh in the shot put as a sophomore.

The former Red Devil, now a senior for the Orediggers, who starred in football, basketball and track and field for Noxon High School, is a three-time All-American in track and field at Montana Tech.

Cade has won a total of eight league championships in the weight throws during his amazing career at Tech, is the two-time outdoor Frontier Conference champion in the shot put and the current indoor champ in the event. His national title put distance Saturday matched that of South Florida’s Jason Nwosu set at the Alachua facility in an event last year.