Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

Wheaton College Athletics

Eli Odell
Gregg Forwerck
Eli Odell earned All-America recognition on Saturday in the men's 400-meter hurdles and the 4X400-meter relay

Division III Track Championships conclude with All-American awards for Eli Odell and men's 4X400 relay

5/29/2021 6:06:00 PM

Greensboro, North Carolina – The 2021 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships concluded on Saturday. Eli Odell competed in the finals of the men's 400-meter hurdles. The men's 4X400-meter relay ran in the final event on the track to help conclude the three-day event. Wheaton finished tied for 35th in the 121-team field

SATURDAY RECAP --- FRIDAY RECAP  ---  THURSDAY RECAP
SATURDAY RECAP
Eli Odell competed in the finals of the men's 400-meter hurdles.The race had two starts that were halted in a driving rain before the athletes were pulled off the track due to the weather. Following a lengthy delay competition resumed with the men's 400-meter hurdles. Odell posted a time of 55.00-seconds in seventh place to earn his first career Division III All-America recognition.

Head coach Scott Bradley said of Odell, "In his first time at Nationals, especially in those conditions, to finish seventh is great. He had a fantastic race on Thursday to to qualify for the finals - I am really pleased with Eli. This is his first year running the 400 hurdles because as a freshman we did not have an outdoor season and its not a high school event in Illinois - so that is a great accomplishment for him."

The men's 4X400-meter relay of Odell, Andrew Lauber, Max Veth and Peter Van Os finished eighth on Saturday in the finals of the event to earn All-America recognition. The foursome posted a time of 3:16.38 in the race.
Jonah JonesFRIDAY RECAP
Jonah Jones participated in the finals of the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase on Friday afternoon. Jones used a strong push late in the race to post a time of 9:17.53. Jones' effort earned him a fifth-place finish in the 17-man field. By finishing in the top-eight he earned Division III All-America honors from the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). 

Head coach Scott Bradley said of Jones' performance, "Jonah did a marvelous job of executing the race in his first time at a National Championship. He executed perfectly in that race and we couldn't have been happier for him."

Robert Smith completed the decathlon on Friday, participating in the final five events. Smith moved up three spots with his performance on Friday to finish in 14th place with 6,038 points. Smith added 688 points to his total in the first event on Friday with a time of 16.40-seconds in the 110-meter high hurdles. He recorded the sixth-best effort among the decathletes in the discus throw with a toss of 38.29-meters to ad 630 points to his total. His effort of 3.60-meters in the pole vault added 509 points to his tally. Smith registered an effort of 41.40-meters in the javelin to register 462 points. Smith concluded the two-day event with a time of 4:51.34 in the 1,500-meters to add 611 points to his total.

Eli OdellTHURSDAY RECAP
Eli Odell participated in the prelims of the men's 400-meter hurdles on Thursday afternoon. His time of 53.01-seconds was second-fastest in his heat to automatically qualify the sophomore for the finals on Saturday afternoon. His qualifying effort was fifth-fastest overall among the 17 competitors in the event. The finals of the event are Saturday at 2:25 p.m. (EDT)

The 4X400-meter relay of Odell, Andrew Lauber, Max Veth and Peter Van Os placed eighth overall among the 14 teams competing in the prelims on Thursday. Their effort of 3:14.09 earned the quartet a spot among the eight relays to compete on Saturday in the finals. The effort of the foursome was a mere .02-seconds ahead of the ninth-place time of Bethel (Minn.) in 3:14.11.

Smith competed in the first five events of the two-day decathlon on Thursday. Smith currently has 3,130 points in 17th place. Smith opened the event with a time of 11.56-seconds in the 100-meter dash to score 740 points. He added 506 points to his total with an effort of 5.62-meters in the long jump. His toss of 11.58-meters in the shot put gave him 581 points and his effort of 1.73 meters in the high jump tallied 569 points. He ran the 400-meters in 51.80-seconds to contribute 734 points. He closes the event on Friday with the 110-meter high hurdles, the discus throw, the pole vault, the javelin throw and the 1,500-meter run.
Print Friendly Version