Ten Pioneers Qualify to NCAA Indoors
The UW-Platteville Track and Field teams will send 10 athletes to compete at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships.
The UW-Platteville Track and Field teams will send 10 athletes to compete at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships.
Senior Amber Williams has the No. 1 ranking in the Triple jump heading into the meet. Williams won the NCAA Championships last year with a 12.43m (40-9.5) jump and broke into the Division III top-10 all-time best list. This year Williams jumped 12.33m (40-5.5) at the WIAC Championships.
Williams will also contest the long jump for the fourth year in a row. Her highest finish in the event came last year's as she finished second place with a 5.86m (19-2.75) leap. This year's best long jump also came from the WIAC Championships where she jumped 5.85m (19-2.5).
For the first time in her career Williams will also contest the hurdles at the national meet. Williams won the 60m Hurdles at the WIAC Championships in 8.96 and the time, along with last weekend's 8.98, were good enough to break a tie and take the final qualifying spot into this year's Championships.
Senior Megan Marotz heads into the meet with the No. 4 ranking in the Pentathlon. Martoz broke four personal records on her way to scoring 3345 points at the WIAC Championships. This will be her first national meet appearance and final chance to break William's 3348 point school record.
Freshman Rachel Beuthin has the sixth best mark in the shot put. Beuthin has broken the school record three times this season. Beuthin's biggest break through occurred at the Spartan invite where she threw a 3-foot personal best of 14.11m (46-3.5).
On the men's side Matt Dwyer comes in with the No. 5 ranking. Matt Dwyer cleared 5.01m (16-5.25) at the WIAC Championships and the UW-Stevens Point Final Qualifier. Dwyer looks to improve on last year's fifth place finish. This will be the third time he competes at NCAA Indoors.
The foursome of Alec Burcham, Tonie Johnson, Greg Stribling, and Wyatt Thompson hold the sixth best seed time in the 4x400m relay. The time was run at last weekend's UW-Stevens Point Final Qualifier. Along with a spot in the finals, the squad will be chasing the school record of 3:18.22 set in 2000.
Sophomore Jacob Hirsbrunner will look to improve on his seventh place ranking in the heptathlon. The school record holder comes with a season best mark of 4873 points set when he won the WIAC Championships. The UW-Madison transfer will compete at his first NCAA Championships.
Senior Kyle Whaley punched his ticket last weekend and will compete with the No. 13 mark. This will be Whaley's third Indoor championships. Whaley looks to improve on his 11th place finish from the 2015 Indoor Championships.
The Indoor NCAA Championships will be held at North Central College on March 10-11.