Pioneers’ Walechka balances full-time job and graduate school to compete in final season

Platteville, Wis.- University of Wisconsin-Platteville track and field senior Alex Walechka found himself in an odd position when the NCAA shut down spring sports due to the COVID-19 pandemic and ruled that student-athletes could retain the year of eligibility. Walechka was in his final year of eligibility and had lofty goals. He was also set to graduate with an electrical engineering degree and was preparing to start his engineering career.

A two-time national qualifier and defending Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champion in the discus, Walechka was looking to defend and improve on his 20th place finish in 2019 and 15th place finish in 2018 at nationals.

"I was super bummed when we found out. I had a lot of stuff that I was planning on doing during the outdoor season," Walechka said.

Five months before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Walechka, a Winona, Minnesota native, had accepted a full-time job at Cardinal Glass Automation Group in Spring Green, Wisconsin. When the NCAA ruled that student-athletes could retain the year of eligibility, Walechka had options. With graduation, an electrical engineering degree and employment secured, Walechka had to make a tough decision on his future as a student-athlete.

One option that was off the table was turning down the full-time job and postponing graduation for a year. "I knew I wasn't going to delay graduation; I had friends debating dropping classes and putting off graduation to the following year," he said. "Instantly, I thought of doing a master's. I always knew I wanted to get my master's. I didn't plan on doing it right away. I was planning on waiting a few years before I started."

Walechka spoke with his father, as he was deciding if competing while working full time was what he wanted to do.

"I didn't know if I wanted to put in all the time and effort, and if it was worth it," he said. "I spoke with my dad and he kind of said the same thing I was thinking. 'Are you going to regret this, are you going to regret not putting the time and effort in to doing this and throw away all you have been working for?'"

Walechka, with the support of Head Coach Chris Rotzenberg, decided to graduate on time, begin his career full time, take the fall semester off, and then enroll in a master's program in January of 2021 to finish his eligibility.

Walechka works Monday through Friday, and after work he heads to River Valley High School in Spring Green to get his throws in before heading to the gym to do his weight training. Once a week, he makes the drive to campus to work with his coaches before returning to his apartment in Spring Green to finish his day with classwork.

"It is one of the more dedicated and amazing stories of my coaching career," Rotzenberg said. "He made the decision about a year ago to come back and try to do this. In January, when he started graduate school, the stress levels and commitment really began. His commitment really started in the summer with weight training. He has been training in the weight room on his own since last summer. The time commitment he is putting forth is truly amazing."

He is currently enrolled in nine credits, the minimum a graduate student-athlete must take to be eligible to compete. After the spring outdoor season, Walechka plans to finish the remaining 21 credits to earn a master's in engineering, with an emphasis in engineering management and engineering controls. UW-Platteville's master's in engineering degree is 100% online.

An added benefit for Walechka returning for his final season is that he will compete against his younger brother, Connor Walechka, who throws the discus for UW-Stout. Making it a true family affair, his youngest sibling, Nicholas Walechka, is a true freshman at UW-Platteville and competing with Alex.

"I never really competed against my brother in a meet," he said. "Last year, he did make the indoor conference, but we really didn't compete against each other. He has put in a lot of work, so I knew if I came back, I would get the opportunity to compete against him. Another thing that really helped me decide to come back is that I have never been on the same team as my youngest brother Nicholas, because we are five years apart. I have never gotten to see him compete, just because I was off doing my thing. So that played a role, knowing if I came back, I would get to compete against and with my brothers."

Walechka's season best discus throw is currently ranked third in the nation with a throw of 52.62 meters (172' 8"). The throw squarely puts him in the national meet and well within his goal of being an All-American.

"The stress came off of Alex in the discus with the distance he threw at the Meet of Champions at Augustana College," Rotzenberg said. "That distance will hold and get him to nationals."

There was a stretch early in the season where Walechka questioned his decision to come back. His work responsibility took him out of the state for the week and he returned on a red-eye flight to participate in a pre-meet weekend.

"I had been up for close to 36 hours to get home and practice," he said. "It pushed me mentally and I started to question if I really wanted to do this. I had teammates I was talking with the whole time, and they were excited for me and that got me back into a positive mindset. I definitely rely on them a lot to keep me going when I might not want to go workout because I am busy and have a lot of other stuff to do."

One person who had no concerns about the effort and commitment was his head coach. "I had no concerns, absolutely none," Rotzenberg said. "He is amazing. He is going to do everything he needs to do. I do not think you make that kind of sacrifice and put that much stress on yourself if you do not plan to put the work in."

With a spot at the national meet all but locked in for discus, Walechka is still working on improving his technique in the discus and work on his hammer distance to qualify for nationals in two events.

"The hammer distance is not guaranteed for nationals," Rotzenberg said. "He continues to work with Coach Dave Kamps and Coach Scott Sehmann on his technique. Unfortunately, with the hammer, he can only throw when he is here in town because he cannot be creating big divots at other people's facilities. The coaches have a good plan to keep him rolling, and he knows what he needs to do."

Walechka took a big step forward to qualifying for the nationals in the hammer, throwing a personal best 55.90 meters (183' 5") at the UW-Whitewater Drake Alternative Meet on April 24. He is currently ranked number seven nationally in the hammer throw.

After weighing the pros and cons of returning, Walechka said his decision came down to not having any regrets.

"I didn't want to look back five years from now, or even this year and see my teammates competing and know that I could have been competing, and think I could have worked it out since I was so close to Platteville," he said. "When the opportunity presented itself to start my master's early, I was like ok, might as well do it now."