BEREA, OH - CNU freshman decathlete Richard Roethel finished third at the NCAA outdoor track and field championships on Friday at Baldwin-Wallace College and earned all-American status for his performance.  Roethel's finish was the highest of any freshman in the event and improved his own school record with 6,989 points.

Roethel got off to a successful start on Thursday when he cleared 6' 11.5" in the high jump and improved to number two all-time at CNU.  Roethel was the only freshman to finish in the top 15 of the decathlon and was bested by two seniors, Obinna Nwanna of Case Western Reserve and Josh Lovell of Linfield.

Fellow CNU athlete David Woodson, competed on Friday as he took to the track in the steeplechase and finished 16^th.  Woodson briefly ran with the lead before one of his shoes was knocked off in traffic by a fellow competitor and he fell off the lead.  Woodson, who has been recovering from an illness the last three weeks, faded towards the end of the event and finished with a time of 9:52.30, 42 seconds off of his school record that earned his invitation to the championships.

Roethel will compete Saturday in the high jump.  Stay tuned to CNUsports.com for results.