GENEVA, Ohio -- Bates junior Liam Byrne placed 19th out of 20 competitors in the discus throw Thursday morning at the NCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championships, hosted by the SPIRE Institute. 

In his debut on the national stage, Byrne (Ridgefield, Conn.) threw the discus 140-04 (42.78m) on his second attempt, short of his career-best 165-2 (50.34m) set earlier this year at the Open New England Championships. He entered the event seeded 18th in the country but his career-best throw would have been good for seventh place on Thursday. 

Byrne will get another chance at NCAAs this Saturday when he competes in the hammer throw at 1:45pm. Byrne won the New England Division III title in the event with his career-best throw of 182-9 (55.71m) earlier this month.