MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) released its Kwik Trip Athletes of the Week for the week of March 24-30, with UW-River Falls athletes Jacob Balcome and Annika Gunderson earning Men's and Women's Field Athlete of the Week.

Just one week after being crowned NCAA Division III Indoor champion in the heptathlon, sophomore Jacob Balcome continued to make history. Balcome placed first overall in the men's decathlon at the Klein-Nwaba Combined Events in Santa Barbara, California, scoring a program-record 6,915 points. The sophomore took first-place finishes in long jump (6.73m) and high jump (1.96m), while placing as runner-up in 100 meters (11.27), shot put (11.94m), 400 meters (50.07), 110-meter hurdles (15.32), and discus (33.59m). Balcome's score of 6.915 points is the current top mark in all of Division III by over 400 points.

Junior Annika Gunderson, UWRF's record holder in both indoor and outdoor pole vault, wasted no time getting the 2025 outdoor season off in strong form. Fresh off her trip to the 2025 indoor championships, Gunderson cleared 3.81 meters (12-6) at the CSB/SJU Optimistic Meet, placing first overall. Gunderson's mark was just 3.75 inches shy of her program record in outdoor. Her score currently ranks seventh in Division III and first in both the North Region and WIAC.

The two athletes both represented UW-River Falls at the 2024-25 NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships less than a month ago. The Falcons' next competition is the weekend of April 11-12, competing at UW-Platteville and Saint Mary's.