Day one of WIAC championships in the books

Written by: Jeremy Williamson, Sports Information Assistant

PLATTEVILLE, Wis. -- After day one of the WIAC Indoor Track and Field Championships, the Pioneers sit at second place for the men's overall, while the women conclude the day with 20 points, good enough for sixth place.

With 54 points, the only team in front of UW-Platteville men's track and field team is UW-La Crosse.

The event started on Friday at 11:30 a.m. in Williams Fieldhouse, as all nine WIAC university teams packed the indoor track.

The women saw success throughout the day with a handful of Pioneers making it to the podium.

Women

Sophomore Chelsey Heiden earned a third place medal in the 5000-meter run with a time of 18:12.29.

Qualifying for finals with the eighth overall spot, senior Caitlin Thomson will compete tomorrow in the 50-meter hurdles finals with a preliminary time of 9.27 seconds.

The highlight of the day, for the UW-Platteville women's team, came at the sandpit, as sophomore Amber Williams cleared a length of 5.81 meters in the long jump. This length earned Williams a gold medal as well as a 2015 WIAC-best and a Williams Fieldhouse facility-best.

The 4x200 team of Kelsey Reed, Briana Iwans, Krysta Parson and Williams ran fast enough for an eighth place spot with a time of 1:46.84.

The women's distance medley saw success with a sixth place time of 12:53.05, as Allison Wells, Megan Rouer, Ashlynne Wampfler and Andrea Knutson earned the Pioneer women's team three points.

Men

Earning a total of 13 points for the men's team were the 5000-meter runners for UW-Platteville. Ian LaMere led the Pioneers with a third place finish and a time of 14:58.49, while Matt Smaga and Jason Winchel were neck-and-neck with fifth and sixth place finishes of 15:03.93 and 15:04.80, respectively.

Joel Walden took the silver medal in the one-mile run with a second place finish of 4:12.23.

With four athletes tying for second through fifth place in the pole vault, it was Garrett Riggs who took second and Matt Dwyer who took third with less jumps than their other two 4.77 meter-clearing opponents.

Kyle Whaley continued his throwing success with a sixth place finish in the shot put. Whaley's toss cleared a distance of 15.97 meters.

The highlight of the day for the Pioneer men's team came in the 4x200-meter relay. Brandon Navin, Mitch Dowell, Caleb Mertens and Jerime Richards set the pace in the third heat with a 2015 WIAC-best time of 1:30.56, which earned them a gold medal and a first place stance on the podium.

Matt Wubben, Darren Hudziak, Jason Henkins and Walden contributed five points to the men's team with a fourth place finish in the distance medley with a time of 10:19.65.

The events continue tomorrow at the Pioneer Activity Center, with a start time of 11 a.m. as the Eagles of UW-La Crosse will try to defend both their men's and women's titles.

For information on event times and participants visit the track and field home page on the Pioneer website.