Notables-Highest Nationals finish in program history-Broke his own program record with 4,995 points-Becomes first CSS male track & field athlete to earn multiple All-America honors
GRINNELL, Iowa (
csssaints.com) – St. Scholastica's
Kevin Wagner (Cleveland, Minn./Cleveland HS) made program history on Saturday with a second place finish in the heptathlon at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships, hosted by Grinnell College (Iowa).
Wagner entered day two in fourth place overall after four events, but made a jump to second after the pole vault and held second after the 1,000m run to break his own school record with 4,995 points and post the highest finish at a NCAA Championship in the St. Scholastica track & field program's history.
Day two began with one of Wagner's stronger events in the 60m hurdles. However, he would run his slowest time of the season in that event at 8.71 to finish seventh.
He responded in the pole vault, clearing 13'7.25" (4.15m), tying for fifth overall, but more importantly leap-frogging into second place overall and making over an 80-point dent into the overall leader with one event remaining.
The final event was the 1,000m run, which has been known to be not one of Wagner's strongest events. With that being said, Wagner ran a season-best time of 2:51.36 to place fourth in the event. He knocked 27 points off of first place, but it wouldn't be enough as he fell 36 points of national heptathlon champion Ethen Schoen of the University of Wisconsin-Stout.
Wagner becomes the first St. Scholastica men's track & field athlete to earn multiple All-America honors as he was an All-American decathlete at the 2015 NCAA Outdoor Championships. He becomes only the second CSS Track & Field athlete (male/female) to earn All-America accolades in both the indoor and outdoor seasons (Becky Huberty).
