March 2017

Welcome to our March e-newsletter

The University of Wisconsin-Platteville track and field team took February by storm and capitalized on opportunites on the track and in the field events. With 10 school records broken, the Pioneers have soared to new heights.

Student-Athlete Spotlight

Name: Rachel Beuthin

Hometown: Mazomanie, Wisconsin

Year in School: Freshman

Why did you choose UW-Platteville?

I really love the closeness to my hometown and I love the area. It also offered my intended major of animal science along with my favorite sport, track and field.

If you could sit down and talk with any athlete, who would it be?

Ryan Crouser

What is your most memorable moment from being on the UW-Platteville cross country/track and field team thus far?

I started a tradition back in my freshman year of high school. When we would go to each away meet, I would look at the records on the board to see how good throwers were at other schools. When I came here I did the exact same thing and I was basing off of my high school record of 38-9 and thought that there was no way I was going to break 40-0.5 this year. Since I am a freshman, that just doesn?t happen. Well I was proven wrong when I broke the record at the alumni meet back in December, and then two more times after that meet. I proved to myself that I was better than I thought, even with taking a year off.

One word that describes the Pioneers? Well-rounded

What other sports do you enjoy?

I was a three sport athlete in high school so I also enjoy volleyball and basketball.

Are you superstitious about any pre-meet rituals? If yes, what are they?

There are a lot of warm-ups that I do to make sure I?m prepared to throw well, but there is one pre-meet ritual that started back in high school. It started senior year when my mom brought me some babybel cheeses to make sure I was not hungry when I threw and after I ate just one cheese I broke the discus record that same meet. During the state meet my mom brought me a babybel and my coach asked me if that was ?Power Cheese? since it helped me break the record. So now my mom brings me a whole bag of babybel?s, or ?Power Cheese? to every meet.

What is one tip you would give incoming freshmen next year?

It sounds a bit clich� but work hard in practice so you can enjoy meets. You?re going appreciate that personal record so much more if you put in the work during practice.

Jacob Hirsbrunner breaks heptathlon school record.

Rachel Beuthin improved her school record in the shot put to 14.11m (46-3.5)

Senior Amber Williams breaks 55m and 60m hurdle school records

Sophomore Brittany Ehlen takes third at the Spartan Invitational, breaking an 11-year school record

What's happening

The Pioneers began February at Wartburg College, competing in the Wartburg Indoor Select. Two school records fell - Jacob Hirsbrunner scored 4,691 points in the heptathlon and Amber Williams ran 9.20 in the 60m hurdles.

During the second week in February more school records fell. On Saturday, Feb. 11, the Pioneers hosted the UW-Platteville Invitational. Williams broke her own school record in the 60m hurdles, running 9.09. Many other personal bests came out of this meet as the team prepared for the University of Dubuque Spartan Invitational, a final tune-up going into the WIAC Indoor Championships.

On Friday, Feb. 17, at the Spartan Invitational, the women continued the record breaking traditon. Williams gained the school record in the 55m hurdles, with a time of 8.43. Rachel Beuthin threw a personal best, setting the school record at 14.11m (46-3.5) in the shot put. Finally, Brittany Ehlen set the pole vault school record clearing 3.52m (11-7).

For the WIAC Indoor Conference Championships, the Pioneers traveled to Menomonie, Wisconsin to compete at UW-Stout on Feb. 24 - 25.

Day one began with several great performances from the Pioneers. Williams made WIAC Championship history securing a three-peat first place in the women's long jump with a jump of 5.85m (19-2.5). In the pole vault, Matt Dwyer took first clearing a season best vault of 5.01m (16-5.25), and Ehlen tied for sixth clearing a new school record of 3.57m (11-8.5). On the track, Wyatt Thompson ran 49.84 taking fourth in the 400m. Teammate Alec Burcham took fifth running 50.07. During the 5,000m run, senior Chelsey Heiden took fourth in 17:55.93, Walker Rynes finished fifth in 15:06.30.

Day two promised more success for the Pioneers. Williams continued the meet in record breaking fashion, winning the triple jump with a WIAC Championship record of 12.33m (40-5.5) and winning the 60m hurdles with a school record 8.96. Senior Megan Martoz closed with second place in the pentathlon scoring 3,345 points, only three points away from breaking Williams' record set last year. Hirsbrunner won the heptathlon with 4,873 points, breaking his own school record. Freshman Noah Steiner cleared 1.99m (6-6.25) placing tied for fourth. The men's 4x400m relay (Burcham, Tonie Johnson, Greg Stribling, Thompson) wrapped up the meet with a second place finish.

The men's team finished sixth, while the women's team finished seventh. Two Pioneers were named to the WIAC All-Sprtsmanship Team - Krysta Parson and Johnathan Delgado. Devan Montgomery and Greg Stribling were nominated as Scholar-Athletes.

Chasing the DIII 5,000m record

It had been 23 years since a Division III athlete ran 5,000m as fast as Ian LaMere. LaMere competed in the Iowa State Classic on Friday, Feb. 10. Led by a pacer for 3,000m, LaMere surged ahead finishing the race in 13:54.88, less than two seconds away from North Central College's Dan Mayer's all-time best of 13:53.17. LaMere earned National Athlete of the Week from U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. Pioneers gathered on campus to watch the historic race.

letsgopioneers.com

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Williams Fieldhouse 1 University Plaza
Platteville, WI | 53818 US