May 26-28, 2011 -- NCAA Div. III Outdoor National Championships

Rain and thunder disrupted the end of the Shot Put competition and Roethel hit his first rough patch as he only managed an 11.58m/38-0 throw. Miller, too, had trouble with the 16lb ball and gave up 45 points to Roethel – enough to relinquish his lead heading in to the High Jump. Everyone had difficulties early with the wet apron, but as the bar continued to rise, Miller and Roethel separated themselves from the field once again. On third attempt clearances, Roethel was able to match Miller’s best clearance (2.02m) and then get one more to extend his lead (2.05m/6-8.75). Miller pulled a few points back in the 400m, but Roethel ran another Decathlon Best 50.84 to close Day 1 with 3889 points – 136 ahead of his School Record pace. The women’s Long Jump coincided with the same storm that delayed the Decathlon and when competition did commence, Brittany Jacobs (Warrenton, VA) and the rest of the field found swirling winds waiting for them behind the stadium. Jacobs’ first jump (5.33m/17-6) was in to a 1.5m/s headwind. When the winds disappeared for her next to jumps, however, she could not stretch the tape any farther and wound up in 15^th place with her first attempt effort.

Dira Hansen (Culpeper, VA) also ran on the first day of competition. The 400m Hurdles trials were late enough in the day that the weather conditions had become favorable again. Needing only a minor adjustment at the first hurdle, the junior came up to the remaining nine hurdles in stride and posted a PR 61.70 and improved her #4 Ranking in CNU History. More importantly, though she was only 4^th in her section, she claimed the last qualifying slot to Saturday’s final.On Friday, the Decathletes returned to work with the 110m Hurdles. Roethel posted another Decathlon PR with a 15.33, but walked away from the event a little frustrated that he did not match his recent open best (15.13) – especially after watching Miller post a field-leading 14.93 to take back 48 points and the lead. After a sub-par 30.57m/100-3 first attempt in the Discus, the sophomore seemed to get back on track with a second round throw that appeared to land well past the 120’ arc. The mark was not measured, though, as his foot had brushed the top of the ring at the front edge. The emotional roller coaster was a bit too much in an event he is still just learning and he fell out of the side of the ring on his third and final attempt. While the result dropped him to 3^rd place over all, the throw was still better than his mark at Nationals last year when he set his School Record.

The Pole Vault proved dramatic for all of the top contenders as each went to third attempts on opening heights. Roethel did not look particularly good on either of his first attempts, but managed to force himself over the bar on his final attempt. At the next height, a Decathlon PR 4.10m/13-5.25, he made it look easy and one of the opposing coaches exclaimed “he’s got it, now!” Unfortunately, the jumps at the next height looked like his attempts at the first height, but without the dramatic 3^rd attempt clearance. Roethel was still in third place and still pushing ahead of his record pace with two events to go.

The Javelin is an event that does not reward tension and does not like to be forced. Roethel took aim at regaining momentum against the field and setting up a chance to upset Miller and his teammate Kurtis Brondyke in the 1500m, but could not get the spear to fly for him. His best effort of 46.65m/153-1 kept him in third place, but he was behind record pace for the first time and another senior – Washington University’s Ben Harmon – was on his heels. Harmon had strong 1500m credentials (for a Decathlete) and Roethel was emotionally drained from the day. The sophomore conceded his position and dropped to 4^th in the 1500m (4:57.22), but stood tall on the awards stand to receive his third All-America trophy in the Combined Events, scoring an outstanding total of 6935 points.