Men Finish Sixth; Women Place 8th at WIAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships

With the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, just three weeks away, the UW-Platteville men's and women's track and field teams took advantage of the weather at the 2012 WIAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Whitewater, Wisconsin on Saturday.

On the women's side, the Pioneers' Deidre Dillman and Ann Tank each ran a season-best to finish second (2:11.27) and third (2:12.46), respectively in the 800-meter run. Dillman and Tank were members of the second place 4x400-meter relay team that ran a season-best and school record time of 3:47.92. The Pioneers were edged at the finish line by 37 hundredths of a second by UW-La Crosse as they posted the fourth-fastest time on the season in Division III.

After winning the 10,000-meter run on Friday, Danielle Kunkel was second in the 5,000-meter run (17:56.16). Keturah Vangen finished sixth in the 400-meter hurdles (1:05.65) and the Pioneers' 4x100-meter relay team was seventh (50.84).
 
On the men's side, in the field events, Jake Wiederholt was fourth in the shot put (52-10) and eighth in the discus (157-10), both season-best performances for the junior from Fennimore. Ace McCarty was third in the high jump with a clearance of 6-6 3/4 and teammate Andrew Kissner was sixth with a clearance of 6-4 3/4.

On the track, the Pioneers were led by its two relays. The 4x100-meter relay team of Aaron Hrubes, Jordan Olp, Casey Goffinet and Lynn Oyawiri were victorious in a Rex Foster Track record time of 41.35. It is the first time that UW-Platteville has won the event at a WIAC Championship. The 4x400-meter relay team of Ben Farrell, Matthew Ziegler, Patrick Kessenich and Chris Saleh were fourth in a season-best time of 3:18.18.

T.J. Valley and Aaron Loferski were fifth and sixth in the 110-meter hurdles, Lynn Oyawiri and Aaron Hrubes were sixth and seventh in the 100-meter dash. Hrubes and Oyawiri were seventh and eighth in the 200-meter dash.  Scott Clark was seventh in the 1,500-meter run in a season-best time of 3:59.96 and Dan LaCroix was seventh in the 5,000-meter run in a time of 14:57.84.
 
After the championship, the Pioneers' Lynn Oyawiri and Carshella Porter were selected to the WIAC All-Sportsmanship Team.