Rhonemus Vaults To 3rd Place At MIAC Heptathlon

NORTHFIELD, Minn. (02/25/22)---Junior Wade Rhonemus vaulted his way to a third-place finish in the heptathlon at the MIAC Indoor Championship Meet. Rhonemus finished with 4,664 points in his second career conference indoor multi-event.

Senior Zach Paustian ended the seven events with a total of 3,614 points which was good for 13th place in the competition.

Rhonemus' final point total is a personal record and the fifth most in school history. His total of 4,664 points is currently No.16 in Division III this year which leaves him a chance to earn a spot in the NCAA Indoor Championship Meet.

Rhonmus' final total at the MIAC meet was only 25 points shy of the total that All-American Matt Bye put up to win the 2020 MIAC heptathlon.

Rhonemus used his specialty in the field events to post his career score. He finished in the Top 2 of the competition in three different events – two of which came from the field events. Rhonemus won the pole vault with a height of 14-03.25 which was good for 716 points. That was one of four events where he scored at least 700 points.

Rhonemus also posted Top 2 event finishes in the long jump and 1000 meters. He posted a distance of 20-08.00 in the long jump which gave him 652 points. In the 1000 meters, the final event of the competition, he ran a 2:53.55 which garnered him 729 points.

Rhonemus' top scoring event came in the opener when he raced to a time of 6.92 in the 55-meter dash and earned 732 points.           

Paustian also scored his most points of the seven events in the 55-meter dash. He was just behind Rhonemus at 6.96 and recorded 719 points. Paustian was also in the Top 8 in the long jump when he recorded a mark of 18-08.50 and received 523 points.

UP NEXT: Rhonemus and Paustian will join their teammates to finish off the MIAC Championship Meet on Saturday, Feb. 26.   

Final Men Heptathlon
1. Maguire Petersen - St. Johns - 5118    
2. Lukas Walton - Bethel - 4886    
3. Wade Rhonemus - Concordia - 4664    
4. Demetri Lord - St. Olaf - 4589    
5. Nick Edwards - St. Olaf - 4449    
6. Logan Hennen - St. Johns - 3982    
7. Max Lelwica - St. Johns - 3897    
8. Woody Rian - St. Olaf - 3827    
9. Layton Borst - St. Olaf - 3792    
10. Micah Smith - Bethel - 3766    
11. Abe Schegel - Bethel - 3725    
12. Trevor Wellman - Bethel - 3720    
13. Zach Paustian - Concordia - 3614    
14. Brandon Kallstrom - Bethel - 3598    
15. Caleb Meeker - Bethel - 3232