Pioneers capitalize on home track advantage

The Pioneer track and field team competed at the UW-Platteville Select meet on Saturday, Jan. 27. In attendance was University of Dubuque, Milwaukee School of Engineering, Lawrence, Edgewood, Marian, Lakeland University, and Rockford.

After another fiery start in the 60m dash, freshman Rodrick McMiller and sophomore Ryan Swanson ran at their personal bests in the 60m final. McMiller came in second place at 7.10 with Swanson at third place in 7.15 seconds. McMiller also took second place in the 200m dash running a time of 22.82. Also in the 200m dash, freshman Zach Frei finished fourth in 23.08 and sophomore Matt Hokanson finished in sixth place in 23.41 seconds. For the Pioneer women, junior sprinter Antgetina Bean ran a personal best 8.38 seconds in the 60m dash for fifth place. Junior Chenoa Stuhr ran for fourth place in the 200m dash finishing the race in 27.26 seconds.

A string of Pioneer men finished in the top six of the 400m dash. Kyle Buechner ran 51.73 to win the event and Blake DeMunck ran 51.99 for second place. Fourth, fifth, and sixth place were rounded off by Zach Frei at 52.35, Riley Bendorf at 52.37, and Connor Vancrete at 52.45 seconds. Pioneer women had three women finish the 400m dash in the top five. Briana Iwans crossed the line in 1:03.16 for second place, Katheryn Holter in 1:04.14 for third place, and Rachel Aumueller in 1:04.17 for fourth place.

In the men's 800m run Ben Nemec finished in second place at 2:01.35, with freshman Jarod Baker taking third place in 2:05.60. The women's 800m run was won by sophomore Kayla Schneider with a time of 2:33.74. Teammate Kirstie Ramsey came in second place running close behind in 2:36.68.

Freshman Kaitlyn Galgon won the women's mile run crossing in a personal best time of 5:28.97. Caitlyn Ifft took third place running just off her personal best time at 5:40.44.

Senior Matt Smith took third place in the men's 5,000m run with a time of 16:43.30. Walker Rynes won the men's 3,000m run in 8:34.13, followed up by teammates taking places 3 through 7 with senior Logan Steinhoff leading the second pack in 8:50.88. Rynes' time sits at No. 13 on the national qualifying list. For the Pioneer women, Janelle Ferguson won the women's 3,000m run securing a new personal best time of 11:00.63. Teammates Kimberly Gutierrez and Brenna Kautz finished third and fifth place running 11:30.35 and 11:41.95 respectively.

The Pioneer men had five hurdlers make it on in the finals of the men's 60m hurdles. Charlie Gifford improved his preliminary time and took first place with a time of 8.39 seconds. Gifford's time places him at No. 25 on the national qualifying list. Matt Hokanson took third place in 8.75, Sean Komro in fourth with 8.79, Cody Faust ran a personal best of 8.88 for fifth place, and Jacob DeBonis solidified sixth place in 8.90 seconds. The Pioneer women had two hurdlers make it on to the finals; Katie Schilling took third place running a personal best of 9.48 seconds and Casey Rielly took sixth place running 10.14 seconds.

Noah Steiner jumped 1.83m (6-0) for third place in the high jump. Jacob Hirsbrunner and Cody Faust came in fourth and fifth with jumps of 1.78m (5-10) and 1.73m (5-8) respectively. Hirsbrunner also took fourth place in the long jump with a jump of 6.14m (20-1.75). Brian Spaeth triple jumped his way to third place with a distance of 13.05m (42-9.75).

In men's pole vault, Josh Miller took third place clearing 4.39m (14-4.75). Cody Faust and Evan Tust came in fourth and fifth place respectively both clearing 4.24m (13-11). At sixth place, Greg Vogt jumped to a new personal best of 4.09m (13-5). In the women's pole vault, Brittany Ehlen won the event clearing 3.52m (11-6.5). Teammate Jordan Meciej took second place clearing 3.22m (10-6.75). Ehlen's mark falls at No. 17 on the national qualifying list.

Throwing two personal bests, Cole Eastlick took third place in both the men's shot put and weight throw. In shot put he through 14.65m (48-0.75) and in the weight throw 15.59m (51-1.75). Sean Cormican also threw two personal bests to take fourth in the shot put with a throw of 14.36m (47-1.5) and second in the weight throw with 16.00m (52-6). In women's shot put, sophomore Rachel Beuthin won with a throw of 13.37m (43-10.5).

To round off the events on the track, the Pioneer women ran for first place in the 4x400m relay finishing in 4:18.16 with the team of Schneider, Ramsey, Schilling, and Galgon.

The Pioneer track and field team travels to Wartburg College to compete at the Wartburg Select meet Friday, Feb. 2 and Saturday, Feb. 3 before returning to Williams Fieldhouse for the UW-Platteville Invitational on Feb. 10.