Several Pioneer champions at Wartburg College Select

Written by: Eileen McGuine, UW-Platteville Athletics

WAVERLY, Iowa — The University of Wisconsin-Platteville track and field teams competed at the Wartburg College Select meet at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa, and walked away with several event champions. 

Senior Deidre Dillman, a senior from Prairie du Chien, Wis., currently ranked fourth in the nation in the 800 meter race, ran the 600 meter race in a time of 1:33.96, braking UW-Platteville's school record previously set by Ann Tank who ran a 1:36:36 in 2012. 

Senior Chas Spangenberg, from Appleton, Wis., captured first-place in the pole vault with a mark of 14 feet, 9-1/4 inches. 

Danielle Kunkel, a junior from Cuba City, Wis., crushed the competition as she twice lapped the field finishing first in a time of 17:33.43. 

Aaron Hrubes, a senior from Madison, Wis., ran a time of 6.90 in the 60-meter dash. Hrubes is currently ranked sixth in the nation in the 60-meter dash. 

Senior, Jordan Olp, from Reedsville, Wis., scored points for the Pioneers with his win in the 200 meter dash in a time of 22:42 seconds. 

The Pioneers came away with yet another win in the 4x 200 meter relay with a time of 1:29.58 with Casey Goffinet, a senior from Platteville, Wis., Valley, Olp and Matt Ziegler, a senior from Madison, Wis. 

In the men's triple jump, senior Preston Baker, from Verona, Wis., and Matt Brendenmihl a freshman from Greenfield, Wis., captured first and second place with marks of 43 feet 2-1/4 inches for Baker and 42 fee 9 3/4 for Brendemihl. 

Same in the fashion, in the men's 1,000-meter run, sophomore Matt Kocak, from Jackson, Minn., and sophomore Jason Henkins earned first and second place, with Kocak running a time of 2:31.15 and Henkins running a time of 2:33.06. 

Jake Wiederholt, a senior from Fennimore, Wis., finished second in the shot put, throwing 50 feet two inches behind Colt Feltes of Wartburg. 

Junior T.J. Valley, from Prairie du Chein, Wis., had a great race in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.31 seconds coming in second place to Larry Johnson of Wartburg with 8:29 seconds. 

On Friday, a few of the men's distance runner competed at UW-Whitewater. Ian LaMere, a freshman from Green Bay, Wis., was the first freshman to cross the finish line, placed fourth in a time of 14:41.42 leading the Pioneers. He was behind first place finisher, John Crain, a junior from North Central in a time of 14:24.22, currently ranked first in the nation in the 5k; second place finisher, Billy Whitmore, a senior from the University of Chicago, currently ranked second in the nation who finished in the time of 14:33.99; and third place finisher, David Stilin, a junior from UW-La Crosse who is also ranked nationally, third in the 5k.

The Pioneers host the UW-Platteville Invitational on Saturday at 11 a.m. in Williams Fieldhouse.