Christopher Newport Senior Richard Roethel Captures National Title in Decathlon
Christopher Newport senior Richard Roethel capped off his career with a national title in the decathlon at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Friday at Ohio Wesleyan. The national championship is the second career title for Roethel after also winning the 2012 heptathlon.
A seven-time All-American, Roethel came from behind on the final day of the decathlon to win his second career national championship. After entering Friday in second place, he rallied over the final five events to finish with 7,086 points, a new CNU record.
After sitting in second with two events remaining, Roethel took over the lead with an incredible performance in the javelin. On his final attempt, he uncorked a 57.19-meter heave, which won the discipline by over 12 feet. With the lead in hand, he held off the competition in the 1500 and secured the national title after crossing the line in 4:49.67.
Salisbury's Luke Campbell took first in the preliminaries of the 110-meter hurdles with stadium-record time of 13.91, advancing to Saturday's finals at 2:40 p.m. Campbell will also compete in the 400 hurdles finals at 4:10 p.m.
Salisbury's Dylan Burkett placed 14th in the shot put at 52'-04.00".
Mary Washington freshman Glenn Taylor finished 12th overall in the preliminaries of the 100 meters. Taylor ran to a time of 10.77 seconds, just eight hundredths of a second away from qualifying in the top-eight for finals.
On the women's side, Christopher Newport freshman Logan Harrington placed 17th in the 800 meters with a mark of 2:12.83 - a new CAC record. Also competing for the Captains, Enuma Ezenwa and Jennifer Westerholm wrapped up the heptathlon with the final three events. Ezenwa eventually finished off the combined event with 4,442 points, which placed her 16th in the nation. Westerholm came in 19th with 4,296.
The NCAA Championships conclude Saturday, beginning at noon.