SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The UW-River Falls track & field program opened its 2025 outdoor track season this weekend at the Klein-Nwaba Combined Events in Santa Barabara, California. The Falcons sent a group of its multi-athletes to compete in the men's decathlon and women's heptathlon.

Jacob Balcome, fresh off a national championship in the indoor heptathlon, led the way in the men's decathlon with a first-place finish with 6,915 points. Just one week after setting the program record for the indoor heptathlon, Balcome's point total set a new UWRF school record in the outdoor men's decathlon.

On the women's side, Haylie Rasmussen was UWRF's top finisher in 10th place with 3,827 total points.

In addition to Balcome's new program record, freshman Joe Guthrie moved up to fifth all-time in the UWRF record book with a score of 6,266. Freshman Cooper Hennemann's score of 5,926 now ranks tied for sixth all-time in the outdoor record book.

Men's Decathlon

• Balcome led the field after day one, scoring 3,733 points. He placed second in the 100 meters at 11.27, first in long jump with a leap of 6.73 meters, second in shot put with a throw of 11.94 meters, first in high jump clearing 1.96 meters, and second in the 400 meters with a time of 50.07.
• On day two, Balcome placed second in the 110-meter hurdles (15.32), second in discus (33.59m), fifth in pole vault (4.05m), third in javelin (44.98m), and third in the 1,500 meters (4:38.68). Balcome's new program record suprassed Clint Christy's previous score of 6,894, which was set in 2007.
• UWRF' Joe Guthrie stood in fourth place after day one — he placed second in high jump at 1.90 meters and fourth in long jump with a leap of 6.25 meters. Guthrie also placed fifth in shot put at 10.83 meters.
• Guthrie followed up on day two with several more top-10 finishes, taking fourth overall with 5,034 points. His best performance on day two was a first-place finish in the 1,500 meters with a time of 4:31.29. Guthrie's overall score ranks fifth all-time in the UWRF record book.
• Cooper Hennemann placed seventh overall with 5,926 points. He placed third in both the long jump and 110-meter hurdles.
• Charlie Theis placed 11th overall with 5,223 points. HIs top finish came in the long jump — Theis leaped 5.99 meters to place seventh.

Women's Heptathlon

• Kuechle led UWRF after day one, scoring 2380 points and ranking ninth after the first four events. She placed sixth in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 15.94 and seventh in the high jump clearing 1.51 meters.
• On day two, Kuechle's top placement was seventh in the long jump at 5.08 meters. She finished 11th overall with 3,734 points.
• Haylie Rasmussen was just behind Kuechle after day one, ranking 10th with 2,350 points. Her top finish on day one was a seventh-place showing in the 200 meters with a time of 26.86.
• Rasmussen finished day two with numerous top-10 placements, securing 10th place overall with 3,827 points. 
• Lauren Machacek placed 16th overall with 3,391 points, Savannah Leopold took 17th with 3,293 points, Jacklyn Tepley finished 20th with 3,064 points, and Elena Fuglestad finished with 2,751 points to place 22nd.

The Falcons are set to be back in action at the Platteville Invitational on April 11 in Platteville, Wisconsin.