(NEW ORLEANS, La.) – Senior multi-event athlete Brent Vogel, following his national championship in the men’s heptathlon, was honored by the USTFCCCA as the Division II National Field Athlete of the Year.
Vogel claimed his first national title in the indoor season, and second of his career, with 5,760 points at the NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships in Birmingham, Ala.
A native of Jefferson City, Mo., Vogel won the heptathlon in what was arguably the best field of heptathletes in NCAA Division II history. Vogel set a new all-time Division II record in the heptathlon with 5,760 points, while runner-up Justin Balczak (Lake Superior St.) and defending national champion Nick Lebron (Southern Connecticut St.) also broke the former all-time mark.
Vogel set personal records in six of the seven events in the heptathlon, winning the long jump, 60-meter hurdles, and 1,000-meter run portions of the event. At the season-opening Doane Holiday Multi-Events, Vogel posted the nation’s top score of 5,450 points, which stood at No. 1 throughout the entire season.
The senior became the first Mule to ever win the Men’s Field Athlete of the Year award, but is the third-straight UCM multi-event athlete to be named athlete of the year, following Lindsay Lettow’s back-to-back Women’s Field Athlete of the Year honors in 2011 and 2012.
As a sophomore and junior, Vogel earned All-American honors in the heptathlon, finishing fourth in the event in 2011, and second last season. He is also the defending national champion in the outdoor decathlon, winning the title last season with 7,462 points.
Vogel, along with the rest of the Mules and Jennies, kick off the outdoor track season Saturday, March 30 when they travel to Pittsburg, Kan. for the Pittsburg State Open.