This year, two RPTU students competed in the German Collegiate Championships. Dennis Lukas finished third in the men’s final with a throw of 19.12 meters, securing a bronze medal. Janina Theobald finished fifth in the women’s 3,000-meter race with a time of 10:45.64. The German University Championships are organized by the General German University Sports Association (adh).

“For me, it was the first outdoor competition of the season, so I’m very satisfied with both my distance of over 19 meters and the bronze medal,” said Lukas, who has been among Germany’s top shot putters for several years—among many other achievements, he reached his career highlight so far in 2021 by becoming the men’s German champion.

In Darmstadt, Lukas got off to a strong start with a throw of 18.98 meters on his first attempt, putting him at the top of the field of 12 athletes. But as early as the second round, Xaver Hastenrath from the University of Düsseldorf struck back: a throw of 19.40 meters not only secured him the provisional lead but also, in the end, the title of 2023 German Collegiate Champion. Lukas achieved his best distance of the day, 19.12m, on his third attempt, and was ultimately beaten only by Hastenrath and Steven Richter of Chemnitz University of Technology, who recorded a distance of 19.26m in the fifth round shortly before the end.

“The competition was very strong—you can tell that many of the younger athletes have started college and are now competing in the men’s division,” said Lukas about the high level of competition at the DHM. “That naturally makes it harder to win, but for me personally, it’s also more interesting, since you have to push yourself even harder in a strong field of competitors, and we spur each other on.” The DHM was hosted on May 18 in Darmstadt by RheinMain University of Applied Sciences in collaboration with the Hessian University of Applied Sciences for Public Management and Security in Wiesbaden.

RPTU student Janina Theobald competed in the women’s 3,000-meter race in Darmstadt. Among six competitors, she clocked 10:45.64 minutes—a time close to her personal best over the 3-kilometer distance—and finished in 5th place. First place went to Nele Weßel of HöMS Wiesbaden with a time of 9:35.05 minutes.

First the Championship—Then the “Finals”

For Lukas, this may have been his last DHM appearance: he is completing his master’s degree in Energy and Process Engineering at RPTU in Kaiserslautern, where he is currently working on his master’s thesis and is nearing graduation. “So it was nice that I was able to compete one last time and win the bronze medal.” Lukas regularly does part of his competition training at Unisport and UNIFIT at RPTU in Kaiserslautern.

But the next highlight won’t be long in coming for Lukas: From July 6 to 9, “Die Finals” will take place in Düsseldorf and Duisburg, a multisport event featuring German championship finals in 18 different sports. Lukas will also compete in the men’s shot put there. Until then, his goal is: “to stay in shape and improve as much as possible—then maybe I can finish in one of the top three spots again at the German Championships.”

More info:
DHM Track and Field 2023: https://www.adh.de/kalender/details/dhm-leichtathletik-1/
“Die Finals”: https://www.diefinals.de/

For questions, contact:
Bastian Merz
Center for Sports, Health, and Wellbeing (ZSGW)
+49 (0) 631 205-5030
bastian.merz@rptu.de