Seniors shine at UW-Platteville Invitational
Platteville, Wis. – The Pioneers hosted the UW-Platteville Invitational on Saturday, Feb. 9. Teams in attendance included Loras, University of Dubuque, Viterbo, Beloit, Concordia, Luther, Webster, Judson, Lake Forest, and Wisconsin Lutheran.
Senior Alec Burcham ran for first place in the men's 400m, running an indoor personal best time of 49.42 seconds. Burcham's time ranks him at No. 7 on the indoor national ranking list.
Seniors Zach Lee and Nolan Wallenkamp ran for first and second place in the men's 800m run. Lee finished first with a time of 1:54.02 which currently ranks No. 6 on the indoor national rankings. Wallenkamp finished with a time of 1:54.80, ranking No. 12. Senior Kyle Buechner finished in fifth place with 1:58.36 and freshman Ben Trihey ran 1:59.77 for seventh place, both shattering their previous personal best times.
In the men's 5,000m run senior Logan Steinhoff ran a personal best time of 15:03.16, as did senior Zach Klokow who ran 15:11.82. Another personal best time came from senior Alex Clark who ran 15:29.70.
As for the men's 60m hurdles, Charlie Gifford took the lead clocking 8.21 seconds. Freshman Grady Rielly took fourth place with 8.70 seconds. Jacob Debonis and Cole Stugelmeyer followed closed behind, finishing in 8.74 and 8.75 seconds respectively.
The men's 4x400m relay of Wallenkamp, Alex Wittmerhaus, Trihey, and Jason Voelker placed third with 3:35.40.
Noah Steiner won the high jump, clearing 2.02m (6-7.5). Freshman Bryce Bierman increased his best jump to 1.92m (6-3.5) to take third place. In the men's pole vault, Jordan Monroe cleared a new personal best of 4.15m (13-7.5). In the men's long jump, Drew Stanioch jumped near his season best, leaping to 6.19m (20-3.75). Senior Brian Spaeth jumped 13.22m (43-4.5).
Sean Cormican threw for two personal bests, taking second in the shot put with 15.18m (49-9.75) and fourth place in the weigh throw with 16.62m (54-6.5). Alex Girard threw a personal best in the weight throw, taking second place with 16.81m (55-2). Alex Walechka also threw a personal best in the men's weight throw with a throw of 16.49m (54-1.25).
In the women's 60m hurdles, Katie Schilling took third place with a time of 9.29 seconds. Gwen Orr tied her personal best in the 60m dash, clocking 8.15 seconds for tenth place. Orr placed fifth in the 200m dash running 26.68. Senior Kayla Schneider ran 1:01.90 in the 400m dash taking fifth place.
In the women's 800m run, Johanna Meister won with a time of 2:18.62, establishing a new indoor personal best time. Meister sits at No. 34 on the indoor national ranking list. Kaitlyn Galgon took third place with 2:20.41, also establishing an indoor best time. In the women's 3,000m run, freshman Savannah Palmer took ninth place with a personal best time of 11:26.49. Senior Katie Wardinski ran a personal best indoor time of 18:29.75 in the 5,000m run.
The 4x400m relay of Katheryn Holter, Meister, Galgon, and Schilling placed third with a time of 4:06.72.
In the women's pole vault, senior Brittany Ehlen won the event clearing 3.55m (11-7.75). Jordan Meciej took second place with 3.25m (10-8).
Rachel Beuthin won the women's shot put with a throw of 13.07m (42-10.75), a season personal best throw. Brianna Hall took fourth place with a throw of 12.72m (41-8.75) establishing a new personal best. Murphy Bleymeyer finished in eighth place with a throw of 11.93m (39-1.75). In the women's weight throw Beuthin took seventh place with 14.57m (47-9.75) and Hall placed ninth with 14.21m (46-7.5).
The UW-Platteville track and field athletes and coaches honored the seniors at the invitational, recognizing the seniors for their leadership and dedication to the track and field program during their time at UW-Platteville. The Pioneers will travel to the University of Dubuque on Friday, Feb. 15 for the final week of competition before the WIAC Indoor Track and Field Championships.