GENEVA, Ohio – Junior
Lucas Kramarczuk and senior
Stephen Peper of the St. Olaf College men's track and field team concluded their standout outdoor seasons on day two of the 2022 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Friday at SPIRE Institute.
Peper collected the second All-America accolade of his career by finishing sixth in the decathlon with a school-record score of 6,872 points, while Kramarczuk placed 12th in the 110-meter hurdles (14.66) while competing in the first national meet of his career. Peper, who was an outdoor All-American in the high jump last season, tied for 17th in the event (1.92m, 6' 3 ½") in his third appearance at nationals in the high jump.
The sixth-place finish made Peper St. Olaf's third-ever All-American in the decathlon – joining Jon Berg '01 (eighth in 2001) and Todd Jorgenson '86 (sixth in 1986) – and matched Jorgenson for the best finish by an Ole in the decathlon in program history.
After entering the day in third place, Peper never slipped out of the All-America positions (top eight) on the second day of the grueling 10-event competition. He started the day with a personal-best time of 16.19 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles to fall to fourth place but backed that up with a third-place performance in the discus throw (37.87m, 124' 3") to stay fourth through seven events.
The senior fell to sixth in the standings in the pole vault after tying for 15th (3.60m, 11' 9 ¾"). Peper posted his best throw in the javelin (45.19m, 148' 3") on his first attempt before rain/lightning in the area resulted in a weather delay of roughly an hour midway through the javelin. After the javelin concluded, Peper remained in sixth place with a 277-point cushion on the eighth-place competitor.
In the final event of the day, Peper clocked in with a personal-best time of 4:42.50 for a seventh-place finish in the 1,500-meter run to secure All-America honors. The time was over seven seconds faster than his previous PR of 4:49.69 from this season's Minnesota intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
After going out of the pole vault, Peper took a break from the decathlon to compete in the high jump for the third-straight national meet (indoor/outdoor) and cleared 1.92 meters (6' 3 ½") on his first attempt before going out on 1.97 meters (6' 5 ½").
Competing as St. Olaf's first outdoor national qualifier in the 110-meter hurdles in three decades, Kramarczuk was sixth in the first heat – which produced five of the nine qualifying times for Saturday's final – and missed out on the finals by .08 seconds.
Peper's sixth-place finish earned St. Olaf three points in the team standings, leaving the Oles tied for 26th heading into the final day of the meet on Saturday.
