Eight Individuals and One Relay Team Set to Compete at NCAA Championships
PLATTEVILLE, Wis. -- The University of Wisconsin-Platteville track and field teams have eight individuals and one relay team competing at the 2013 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships that will be held Thursday through Saturday at UW-La Crosse.
Senior Aaron Hrubes will be very busy, as he will be running in the 100-meter dash and 200-meter dash and as a member of the 4x100-meter relay team. Hrubes has been running at a high level the last few weeks as he broke the school 100m record with a time of 10.65 at the Augustana Meet of Champions and ran a season best at the WIAC Championships in the 200m with a time of 21.35, behind top seeded UW-Eau Claire's Dennis Thurgood's 20.96.
Hrubes is joined by Jordan Olp, Casey Goffinet and Caleb Mertens on the 4x100m relay team. The quartet was crowned WIAC champions with a time of 41.13, which is fifth best time in the nation.
Senior Matt Ziegler was in the outside looking in until last Thursday when he ran a personal-best time of 47.73 in the 400-meter dash at the UW-La Crosse National Qualifier to rank 11th on the national honors list.
The final men's track athlete to compete is junior T.J. Valley in the 110-meter hurdles. Valley is coming off an all-American honors performance at the Indoor Championships in the 60-meter hurdles. The Prairie du Chien, Wis. native, will look to improve on last year's 13th-place performance.
The Pioneers have four men's field athletes competing, including a pair of javelin throwers. Senior Mark Niemann is seeded 17th with a mark of 61.06 meters while sophomore Dan Poh sits 20th with a seed mark of 60.43 meters.
Senior Jacob Dailey is seeded 16th in the hammer throw with a mark of 57.09 set last week at the UW-L NCAA Qualifier.
Senior Chas Spangenberg will wrap up a stellar career as the best pole-vaulter in school history. He set the indoor mark of 4.93 meters in February and the outdoor mark earlier this month at the Eagle Open, 4.92 meters. His mark of 4.92 seeds him fifth as he is coming off a all-American performance for the Indoor Championships.
Sophomore Lynea Axelson is the only member from the women's team to qualify. Axelson was just like Ziegler looking from the outside in until last week when she ran a personal-best time of 2:11.89 in the 800-meter run. The Oregon, Ill. native, improved her time by over a second and a half to be seeded 17th.
The 4x100-meter relay team will be first to compete on Thursday with the preliminary race start time at 4:15 p.m.
Click HERE for full schedule.