Rynes becomes an All-American and McMiller advances in the 200m on day one
La Crosse, Wis. – On day one of the NCAA DIII Outdoor Track and Field Championships, six athletes competed from UW-Platteville. Walker Rynes became an All-American in the 10,000m, and Rodrick McMiller advanced to the finals of the 200m dash.
In the first event of the day, senior Rynes set the tone for the day by finishing in sixth place during the 10,000m run. The event was moved to the morning hours seeing that elevated temperatures were expected throughout the day. Rynes ran near 11th place for nearly the entire race until the last 800m when he began to pass runners. Rynes advanced himself into the sixth place to solidify his All-American status. Rynes will compete in the 5,000m on Saturday, May 26.
Cody Faust began his two day adventure in the decathlon. Faust competed first in the 100m dash, running 12.01 seconds. Next, Faust long jumped a best jump of 6.51m (21-4.25). In the shot put, Faust threw a best throw of 10.64m (34-11). He jumped a lifetime best in the high jump, reaching 1.84m (6-0.5). In the last decathlon event of the day, Faust ran 51.93 seconds in the 400m. Following day one, Faust is in 15th place with 3,262 points. On day two, the decathlon will compete in the 110m hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin, and 1500m.
In the men's discus, Alex Walechka threw 47.16m (154-9). Walechka came into the championships at No. 20 and finished in 15th place.
Zach Lee competed in the 1500m, finishing the preliminary race 3:55.78. Lee landed 13th place, one place short of making the final 1500m heat.
Matt Hokanson ran in the preliminaries of the 400m hurdles. Hokanson finished in 54.94 for 18th place, after clipping a hurdle in the final stretch of the race.
Freshman Rodrick McMiller competed in the 200m preliminaries. McMiller advanced to the finals, after running 21.80. McMiller is seeded at No. 4 going into the final heat to be contested Saturday, May 26.
Tomorrow, the championships will continue for the Pioneers with Faust in the decathlon, Noah Steiner in the high jump, and McMiller in the 100m dash.
For a full list of live results click here.