Pioneers take home three event titles at WIAC Indoor Championships on day two
Whitewater, Wis. – The UW-Platteville track and field team concluded the WIAC Indoor Championships finishing with three individual event champions on day two of competition.
In the finals of the men's 60m hurdles, junior Charlie Gifford won with a time of 8.12 seconds, ranking him at No. 5 in the national rankings. Also competing in the men's 60m hurdles finals, Matt Hokanson placed sixth with a time of 8.37 seconds. Sean Komro took eighth with 8.55 seconds.
Nolan Wallenkamp won the men's 800m with a time of 1:54.11. Wallenkamp was persistent throughout the race, surging in the final meters to take the win after disqualifications from two other athletes. His time places him within the top 15 in the national rankings.
Finishing out the heptathlon on top was Pioneer Cody Faust. Faust finished with a point total of 5,251. In the 60m hurdles, Faust ran a personal best time of 8.37 seconds. In the pole vault, Faust cleared 4.62m (15-1.75), also a personal best. Lastly, in the 1,000m run he clocked 2:53.71. Faust currently is ranked No. 2 in the national rankings for NCAA DIII. He now holds the eighth best point total for the heptathlon in the history of NCAA DIII.
Zach Lee finished in second place in the men's 3,000m run, running a lifetime best time of 8:25.14. Logan Steinhoff and Wallenkamp also ran lifetime bests in the 3,000m run, running 8:39.78 for seventh place and 8:40.85 for eighth place respectively. Katie Wardinski ran a lifetime best of 10:18.60 in the women's 3,000m run to take fifth place.
In the men's high jump, Noah Steiner took second place clearing 2.07m (6-9.5). Freshman Bryce Bierman competed for seventh place, jumping 1.87m (6-1.5).
Johanna Meister and Kaitlyn Galgon ran for two podium finishes in the women's 800m. Meister finished in third place with a time of 2:17.01, an indoor season lifetime best time. Galgon placed fifth with an indoor lifetime best time of 2:19.60. Teammate Caitlyn Ifft finished in 11th place with 2:21.30.
In the women's weight throw, Rachel Beuthin improved her lifetime best throw to 15.42m (50-7.25) taking eighth place. In the men's weight throw, Alex Walechka made it to the podium in seventh place with a toss of 16.65m (54-7.5). Teammates Sean Cormican and Alex Girard finished in 10th and 13th place throwing 16.45m (53-11.75) and 16.06m (52-8.25) respectively.
Senior Brian Spaeth took 10th in the men's triple jump, leaping 13.56m (44-6). Damani White competed at his first indoor championships, jumping 13.16m (43-2.25) for 15th place.
The women's 4x400m relay of Kayla Schneider, Katheryn Holter, Haley Ott, and Katie Schilling took sixth place with a time of 4:04.88. The men's 4x400m relay team of Hokanson, Zach Frei, Kyle Beuchner, and Alec Burcham took third place with a time of 3:20.17.
UW-Eau Claire's women's team won the championships scoring 172.5 points. UW-La Crosse women came in second place with 162.5 points. In third place was UW-Stevens Point with 109 points. UW-Oshkosh women scored 77 points for fourth place. UW-Stout women scored 54.5 points to take fifth place. UW-Platteville women finished in sixth place with 45 points, beating UW-Whitewater scoring 30.5 points and UW-River Falls scoring 10 points.
Winning the men's championship was UW-La Cross scoring 189.5 points. UW-Oshkosh men's team placed second with 104 points. The Pioneers took third place as a team scoring 90 points. UW-Whitewater men placed fourth with 88 points. In fifth place, UW-Eau Claire scored 74.5 points. UW-Stevens Point took sixth with 61 points. In seventh place, UW-Stout scored 52 points followed by UW-River Falls with 3 points.
