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MOORHEAD, Minn. (5/22/23)---Concordia multi-eventers Wade Rhonemus and Peyton Selle, as well as 400-meter phenom Cal Wright have all officially qualified for the NCAA Division III National Outdoor Track & Field meet on May 25-27 in Rochester, N.Y.
Rhonemus and Selle qualified at the Mount Union Last Chance Meet in Geneva, Ohio, last week. Wright used the MIAC Championship Meet and La Crosse NCAA Qualifier Meet to post his accepted times in the 400 and 200 meters.
All three athletes will be making return trips to nationals. Rhonemus participated in the heptathlon at the 2022 DIII Indoor meet. Selle will be making her third straight national meet appearance. She qualified for the heptathlon at last year's DIII meet and also participated at the national indoor meet in the pentathlon earlier this winter. Wright will be making his third trip to nationals. He earned All-American honors in the 400 at the 2022 national indoor meet. He also qualified for the 2022 national outdoor meet.
Rhonemus posted a career-high point total in the decathlon at Mount Union last week. He finished with a final tally of 6,407 points which is the 19th-highest score in Division III this season. His total is also the fourth best in program history.
Rhonemus will start the NCAA Division III decathlon competition on Thursday, May 25 at 10 a.m. (est).
Selle earned the "at the buzzer" award for her qualifying score in the heptathlon. She posted a total of 4,438 points at the Mount Union meet which, at the time, was No.22 on the list for national qualifiers. Only the Top 22 athletes qualify for each event, so Selle had to sit and wait until all the other last-chance meet scores were posted. When the dust had settled, Selle earned a spot in nationals by a mere four points.
She will begin her All-American quest on Thursday, May 25 at 11 a.m. (est).
Wright will compete in the 200 and 400 meters at the national meet. The school record holder in both events, he is ranked No.14 in the 200 and No.7 in the 400 meters.
He qualified in the 200 at La Crosse with a mark of 21.20, which marked the third time he bettered his school record from the end of the 2022 season.
Wright's best chance to earn his second All-American mark will be in the 400 meters, where his time of 46.95 is the seventh best in the nation this year and the first sub-47-second 400 in program history. His school record before the season was 47.56, and he bested that time in the prelims and finals of the conference championship meet.
Wright will run the prelims of the 200 on Thursday, May 25 at 7 p.m. (est), while the prelims of the 400 will be held on Friday, May 26 at 5:30 p.m. (est). The finals in both events will be held on Saturday, May 28.