Richard Roethel

Richard Roethel -- Assistant Vertical Jumps/Combined Events -- (First year)

Two-time NCAA Division III National Champion and Indoor Heptathlon National Record Holder Richard Roethel graduated in 2014 and will help with the High Jump and Pole Vault while he continues his training in the Combined Events with an eye on the 2016 Olympic Trials.

Roethel had an exceptional career for the Captains including Nationals appearances in all eight of his Track & Field seasons. As a freshman, he qualified in the Indoor Pentathlon and High Jump, finishing 11th in the former. He earned his first South/Southeast Region Field Athlete of the Year award that spring and caught the attention of his competitors during the fourth event of the Decathlon when he scaled a PR 6-11.5 on his way to a 3rd place finish. Roethel added two more All-American honors as a sophomore, placing 3rd in the Indoor Pentathlon and 4th in the Decathlon. He also repeated as Outdoor Field athlete of the Year for the S/SE Region.

His junior year was truly impressive. Scoring PR after PR during the Indoor Heptathlon, the only thing that slowed him down was a broken pole on his first attempt in the penultimate event of the competition. In spite of the scare, he negotiated his opening height, but nothing more. The final event, the 1,000m occurred in the middle of the open High Jump competition. After finishing the final event to win the Heptathlon and post a National Record - just 16 points shy of the USATF Heptathlon Championships Qualifier - he went back to the High Jump and secured a 3rd place finish there. His efforts were recognized with the National Field Athlete of the Year honor. Outdoors, he won the Penn Relays Decathlon and earned his fourth South/Southeast Region Field Athlete of the Year award. The Pole Vault disrupted his competition again, this time with a no-height, but Roethel still made the podium with a 7th place finish.

After a year off from competition while studying abroad in Germany, Rothel struggled through a series of injuries during his senior year. Though capturing is fifth Field Athlete of the Year honor indoors, he was unable to finish the Heptathlon and failed to clear a height in the High Jump at Nationals. He missed the first half of the outdoor season recovering, but rounded into form in time to cap his career with another National Title - a long-anticipated victory in the Decathlon.

At the Conference level, Roethel scored 261 points during his career and was named Outstanding Field Event Performer four times. He graduated with School Records in the Pentathlon (3784 pts) & Heptathlon (5434 pts) indoors along with the Decathlon outdoors (7086 pts) and ranks in the CNU All-Time Top-10 Lists in nine other events.