LA CROSSE, Wis. – Junior Jacob Balcome capped off another historic season Friday evening with a national runner-up finish in the decathlon at the 2026 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

Balcome finished second overall with 7,155 total points, finishing just 102 points behind national champion Kale Hobart of Central College. The finish marked the highest NCAA Outdoor Championships placement of Balcome's career after earning fourth-place honors last season.

The junior entered Friday sitting in fifth place following the opening day of competition before putting together a solid final five events to climb the leaderboard. Balcome highlighted the second day by taking third overall in the 1500m with a personal-record time of 4:27.57, earning 761 points.

Balcome posted top-four finishes in the pole vault, discus throw and 110m hurdles this afternoon. He cleared 4.35m in the pole vault, added 837 points in the 110m hurdles (15.10) and discus (38.36m) to secure the national runner-up finish.

During Thursday's opening day, Balcome recorded a fourth-place finish in the high jump with a clearance of 1.86m while taking sixth in both the shot put (12.22m) and 400m (49.59). His 49.59 in the 400m marked a personal record, improving on his previous best of 49.77 and moving him from ninth to seventh all-time in program history in the event.

Balcome closes his junior campaign following one of the top seasons in program history. Earlier this spring, he claimed his second consecutive WIAC Outdoor Championship in the decathlon with 7,158 points, the second-highest total in WIAC Outdoor Championship history. During the indoor season, Balcome captured his second straight NCAA Division III Indoor National Championship in the heptathlon as well. 

UW-River Falls will continue competition Saturday morning as Lauryn Schutz competes in the women's hammer throw at 11 a.m. at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.