Noah Zastrow grabs national title; sister fifth in hurdles

Noah Zastrow had to wait nearly two years, but the UW-Stout senior claimed the NCAA Division III pole vault title on May 27 at the NCAA Division III Track and Field Championship at North Carolina A & T State University.

Zastrow, of Spencer, has been the topranked pole vaulter since the 2020 indoor season, but that season, along with the 2020 outdoor season, was canceled due to the pandemic. Stout did compete during the 2021 indoor season, but the NCAA canceled the indoor championship.

Zastrow cleared 16-feet, 8.75-inches to claim the prize, and won the title on fewer misses, matching the same height as Ithaca’s Dominic Mikula. Passes among the three top finishers, including freshman Ben Drummey who finished third, played into the final standing.

Zastrow passed until 16-4.75 (5.00m), while Mikula and Drummey worked their way up the ladder. Mikula’s first miss came at 16-2.75 (4.95m), which he made on his second attempt, and Zastrow and Drummey missed on their first two attempts at 16-4.75, but made the height on their third jumps. Mikula missed on his first attempt at 16-4.75, but cleared the bar on his second attempt.

Drummey made the next height, 16-6.75 (5.05m) on his first jump, but Zastrow and Mikula passed to 16-8.75 (5.10m), while Drummey passed to 17-0.75 (5.20m). Zastrow made 16-8.75 on his first attempt, while Mikula missed on the first attempt, but came back to clear on his second. Zastrow passed at 16-10.75 (5.15m), but Mikula went out, setting up a showdown at 17-0.75, which both vaulters missed on three consecutive jumps. Because Drummey’s last made height was 16-6.75, that became his final mark. Zastrow and Mikula tied at 168.75, with Zastrow having one less miss at 16-8.75 to claim the national title.

Zastrow became the first pole vault champion for the Blue Devils, becoming Stout’s 12th national champion and earned the 22nd track individual national trophy for the Blue Devil program.

Hannah Zastrow also on national stage For the fourth consecutive week, Noah Zastrow’s younger sister, Hannah Zastrow broke the UW-Stout women’s 100-hurdles record, but this time she did it on the biggest stage - the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championship on May 28 at North Carolina A& T State University.

The freshman from Spencer came into the meet seeded 12th and ran a time of 14.23-seconds out of the third heat to finish seventh in the preliminaries and qualify for the finals on Saturday. Eight qualified to the final round.

Zastrow first broke the school mark at the WIAC Championship with a time of 14.45 seconds, then went 14.34 the following week and 14.28 last week at the NCAA Final Qualifier. Favor Ezewuzie of Wheaton, Ill, College, paced the field in a time of 13.85.

May 28 was a busy day for Zastrow, who opened the day by competing in the high jump where she finished 13th with a height of 5-feet, 3.25-inches. Sharde Johnson of Colby won the event with a height of 5-9.25.

D3PHOTOGRAPHY.COM PHOTO

D3PHOTOGRAPHY.COM PHOTO