EUGENE, Ore. – In his final race as a Colonel, Eastern Kentucky University senior Ole Hesselbjerg placed third in the finals of the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase at the Division I NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Friday at historic Hayward Field.
 
The native of Charlottenlund, Denmark and four-time Ohio Valley Conference steeplechase champion covered the 3,000 meters in a time of 8:36.09, losing only to three-time defending national champion Anthony Rotich of UTEP (8:33.90) and Stanley Kebenei of Arkansas (8:34.28).
 
It is the second consecutive year Hesselbjerg has finished third in the steeplechase at the NCAA Championships. He was the bronze medalist last year with a then-personal best time of 8:38.75. He lost to Rotich and Kebenei in that race, too.
 
Hesselbjerg will conclude his EKU career as a three-time first team All-American in the steeplechase. He finished seventh in the event at the 2013 NCAA Championships, clocking a time of 8:43.80. The bearded Dane set the EKU steeplechase record with an 8:33.22 back on May 2 at the Payton Jordan Invitational in California. He is also a two-time All-NCAA Southeast Region cross country performer and has helped the EKU men's cross country team reach the NCAA Championships the last three seasons.
 
Hesselbjerg was one of two Colonels to compete at the premiere event in all of college track and field this week. Freshman Carina Schrempf finished 15^th in the women's 800 meters on Thursday night with a time of 2:06.48.