Blue Devils qualify 10 to compete at NCAA Division III Track and Field Championships in North Carolina

NCAA Division III Track and Field Championships | Schedule of Events [PDF]

Thursday Events: | Men's Discus | Men's Pole Vault | 200 Meter | 4x400-relay
Friday Events: | Women's High Jump | Women's 100-Hurdles
Saturday Events: | Women's Shot Put | Men's Hammer Throw | Men's Shot Put | 100-Hurdles Finals |

MENOMONIE (May 21, 2021) – Ten members of the UW-Stout men's and women's track and field teams have qualified to the NCAA Division III Track and Field Championships at Greensboro, N.C., Thursday, May 27 through Saturday, May 29.
 
Two women in three events qualified, five men qualified in six individual events and three additional men qualified as a member of the 4x400-relay team.
 
Noah Zastrow and Kevin Ruechel qualified as the top seed in their individual events.

Zastrow is the top qualifier in the pole vault with a school record mark of 17-feet, 7-inches. Zastrow will compete Thursday at 3:30 p.m. (ET). Zastrow has qualified to NCAA championships five times, earning All-America honors all five times. The USTFCCCA named all 2020 indoor qualifiers as All-America. Zastrow finished second at the 2019 outdoor championship, sixth at the 2018 outdoor, seventh at the 2019 indoor and fifth at the 2018 indoor.

Ruechel is the top seed in the shot put with a mark of 59-2.75. Ruechel has also qualified in the discus where he is seeded fourth with a toss of 174-9. Ruechel will compete in the discus Thursday at 11 a.m. (ET) and the shot put on Saturday at 2 p.m. (ET). Ruechel qualified to the 2020 indoor championship in the shot put. Ruechel earned All-America honors at the 2019 indoor championship when he finished sixth. Ruechel qualfied to the 2019 outdoor championship in the shot put (10th) and in the discus (18th), and the 2018 outdoor in the discus (13th). 
 
Jacob Bugella is the fourth seed in the hammer throw with a mark of 200-1. Bugella will compete Saturday at 10:30 a.m. (ET) Alec Benzinger is seeded 15th in the shot put with a mark of 53-9 and will will compete Saturday at 2 p.m. (ET). Both Bugella and Benzinger are making their first national appearances. 
 
Brent Heilman qualified individually in the 200-meter with a time of 21.37 seconds. Heilman will compete in the preliminaries of the 200m Thursday at 5:15 p.m (ET). The 200m finals are Saturday at 2:50 p.m. (ET). Heilman also anchors the 4x400-meter relay, and will run along with teammates Cody Lohrenz, Caleb Green and Keegan Pulchinski with a time of 3-minutes, 15.91-seconds. The preliminaries are Thursday at 7:15 p.m. (ET) and the finals are Saturday at 4 p.m. (ET). Heilman qualified to the 2020 indoor championship and was named All-America in the 200-meter. Lohrenz competed in the 2019 indoor championship in the distance medley relay (10th). Green and Pulchinski will step onto the national stage for the first time. 
 
On the women's side, Hannah Zastrow will compete in two events – the 100-hurdles and the high jump. Zastrow is seeded 12th in the hurdles in a school record time of 14.28-seconds and is seeded 11th in the high jump with a mark of 5-feet, 7-inches. Zastrow will compete in the preliminaries of the hurdles Friday at 2:10 p.m. (ET) with the finals scheduled for Saturday at 12:50 p.m. (ET). She will compete in the high jump  Friday at 11:30 a.m. (ET). Zastrow will be making her first national appearance.
 
Mackenzie Huber is seeded sixth in the shot put with a personal-record mark of 46-9. She will compete Saturday at 10:30 a.m. (ET). Huber qualified to the 2020 indoor championship in the shot put and was named All-America.

The 2020 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as were the 2020 and 2021 indoor national championships.