Wright & Rhonemus Cap Outstanding Years At NCAA Meet

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (5/26/23)---Seniors Cal Wright (Mora, Minn.) and Wade Rhonemus (Foley, Minn.) capped their outstanding seasons by posting Top 15 finishes at the Division III Outdoor National Championship Meet.     

Wright earned Top 15 honors in both the 200 and 400 meters, while Rhonemus persevered through the 2-day decathlon event to come away with his best-ever national meet finish.

Wright, who earned All-American honors in the 400 meters at the 2022 DIII Indoor Meet, finished his Cobber career by placing 11th in the 200 meters on Thursday and 12th in the 400 meters on Friday.

Wright missed qualifying for the finals of the 200 meters by a scant .09 of a second. He ran in the first of the three qualifying heats and posted a time of 21.41. That was the third-fastest time in his heat, with the Top 2 finishers qualifying for the finals.

Wright got a great start in the 400-meter prelims on Day 2. He was neck-and-neck with the defending national champion around the last turn but then slowed to a fourth-place finish in heat No.2 with a time of 47.39.

Wright ends his time in maroon and gold as the school record holder in the outdoor 200 and 400 meters and the indoor 200 and 300 meters. He was also an 8-time USTFCCCA All-Region award winner and a 3-time NCAA National Meet participant.          

Rhonemus bettered his previous national meet performance, which came in the heptathlon at the 2022 DIII Indoor Meet, by six spots.

Rhonemus saved his best for last in the 10-event competition by posting a career-best time in the final event – the 1500 meters. His time of 4:39.59 earned him 638 points, which gave him a final total of 6,423 points which is also a career-best mark. Rhonemus' final tally was good for 12th place in the final standings, seven spots better than his seed heading into the meet.

Rhonemus' total is also No.4 on the school's all-time list, just 32 points behind Jackson Schepp, who sits in the No.3 spot on the list.

Rhonemus scored over 700 points in five of the 10 events at the national meet. His top score came in the 400 meters, where he posted a time of 51.30 and picked up 756 points. His other 700-plus-point events were the 100-meter dash, long jump, 110-meter hurdles and pole vault.

His top finish among the competitors over the two days was in the pole vault and 1500 meters, where he finished sixth among the 22 competitors. He also posted Top 10 finishes in the 110-meter hurdles, high jump and 400 meters.

Rhonemus has decided to return to compete for a fifth season next year.