Two Blue Devils win national titles, five named All-America at Division III track and field meet (2024)

The 2020-21 athletic schedule ended on a highnote as two track and field student athletes earned individual national championship titles — the first time in school history twoUW-Stoutindividuals have won a national title at the same meet.

Noah Zastrow won the men’s pole vault title and KevinRuechelwon the men’sshot puttitle, while JacobBugellafinished runner-up in the hammer throw.

The triotallied 28 team points, putting Stout in an eighth-place tie, the Blue Devils’ highest finish since2012.

The women also collected individual All-America honors from hurdler Hannah Zastrow and shot putterMackenzie Huber.

The NCAA Division IIITrack and Field Championship was held May 27-29 in Greensboro, N.C.

Two champions

The top ranked pole vaulter in NCAA Division III since spring 2020,Noah Zastrowclaimed the2021 outdoorpole vault title after seeing the2020 and 2021 indoor and 2020 outdoor national championships canceled because of the pandemic.

Zastrow outdueledhis competition, finishing with a vault of 16 feet, 8.75 inches.

Zastrow, a senior from Spencer majoring in mechanical engineering, set theschool indoor and outdoor record this season on his quest for the national title. Hesailed 17 feet, 8.50 inches for the indoor record this spring, thenwon the event at the WIAC outdoor championship with a jump of 17 5.50, tying his school record from earlier in the year,setting the conferencechampionship recordand earningField Athlete of the Week honors.A week later, he upped the record with a mark of 17-7.

Ruechelalsobroke both theschoolindoor and outdoorshot putrecords this year, but he saved perhaps his besteffortfor his final throw of the season at the national championshipmeet.

Coming into the meet as the top seed,Ruechelwas in second placeentering the final round of competition.He let loose with a throw of 59 feet, 9 inches, more than a foot in front of the second-place competitor.

Ruechel, a senior from Pulaski majoring in mechanical engineering, had the best mark in the shot put in Division III during the indoor season, setting the school record with a mark of 60-1 in the final indoor meet of the season.He first broke the school outdoor record when he won the WIAC outdoor championship with a throw of59-2.75, then topped that at the national meet.

Three more All-Americans

After a dominating indoor season in the weight throw,Bugellacarried his success into the outdoor season with the hammer throw and came into the national championshipseeded fourthbut improved on his seed with a second-place finish on a throw of196-10.

He is a junior from Rice Lake majoring in dietetics.

On the women’s side, first-year packaging major Hannah Zastrow, of Spencer, was seeded12thcoming into the national meetin the 100 hurdlesand finished fifth, consistently breaking the school record throughout the last four weeks of the season.

She first broke the record at the WIAC outdoor championship, thenset the mark the next three weeks,running a time of 14.23 seconds in theNCAApreliminaries to qualify for the finals where she ran a time of14.28 for her first All-America title.

Sophom*ore Mackenzie Huber, of Colby, an early childhood education major, placed seventh in the shot putto round out UW-Stout’s All-America finishers.

For more information about UW-Stout’s results at the national meet and other Blue Devil news, go to the Athletics website.

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