Lee wins the men's mile setting a facility record on day one of WIAC Indoor Championships
Whitewater, Wis. – The Pioneer track and field team completed day one of competition at the WIAC Indoor Track and Field Championships, hosted at the University of Wisconsin - Whitewater.
One of the highlights of the day came in the men's mile. Senior Zach Lee capitalized on his race to win with a time of 4:08.89. Lee established a facility record, and Lee was 0.65 seconds off the NCAA DIII best time of 4:08.15. Nolan Wallenkamp finished in fifth place with a time of 4:13.47, over 10 seconds better than his previous personal best. Logan Steinhoff took eighth place with a time of 4:16.74, also a personal best. Together, the milers totaled 15 points for the Pioneer men.
In the women's 60m hurdles, Katie Schilling ran 9.35 seconds for ninth place and Casey Rielly ran a lifetime best time of 9.85 seconds. In the men's 60m hurdles, advancing on to the finals are Pioneer's Charlie Gifford, Matt Hokanson, and Sean Komro. Gifford leads the field with a time of 8.13 seconds, a lifetime best time.
Gwen Orr ran 8.08 seconds in the women's 60m dash, a personal best time. Orr will race in the 200m dash on day two of competition. In the women's 400m dash, sophomore Kat Holter ran an indoor best time of 1:02.39. Haley Ott finished the 400m in 1:03.80.
The men's 400m dash proved to be a highly competitive race. Alec Burcham finished in second place, scoring eight points for the Pioneer men. Burcham ran a personal best time of 49.17 seconds. Kyle Beuchner ran 50.71 seconds, placing 13th. Sophomore Zach Frei ran 51.85.
Johanna Meister ran for seventh place in the women's mile, clocking a personal best time of 5:12.85. Teammate Kaitlyn Galgon placed eighth with a time of 5:20.62. Meister and Galgon's finishes totaled three points for the Pioneers.
Breaking the 18:00 minute marker for the first time, Katherine Wardinski placed fourth in the women's 5,000m run with a time of 17:59.88. In the men's 5,000m run, Zach Klokow placed seventh with 15:14.11.
The women's distance medley relay consisting of Galgon, Kayla Schneider, Caitlyn Ifft, and Meister, placed second with a time of 12:35.66, adding eight points to the Pioneer women's team score. The men's distance medley relay, including Alex Wittmerhaus, Frei, Jarod Baker, and Ben Trihey, finished in seventh place with a time of 11:27.05.
Senior Brittany Ehlen scored four points for the Pioneers in the women's pole vault. Ehlen marked 3.56m (11-8) for fifth place.
The Pioneer women scored seven points in the shot put. Rachel Beuthin placed fourth with a throw of 13.58m (44-6.75), a season best and currently No. 13 in the nation. Brianna Hall placed seventh with a throw of 13.20m (43-3.75), a lifetime best.
The men's heptathlon began today with the 60m hurdles, followed by the long jump, shot put, and high jump. Senior Cody Faust ran 7.26 seconds in the 60m dash, a lifetime best. Jacob Rice also ran a lifetime best time of 7.38 seconds in the 60m dash heptathlon. Faust continued to beat his personal best jumping 6.90m (22-7.75) in the heptathlon long jump. Rice long jumped 5.31m (17-5.25).
In the heptathlon shot put both multi-athletes threw personal bests; Faust threw 11.79m (38-8.25) and Rice threw 10.72m (35-2). In the high jump, the final heptathlon event of day one, Faust jumped near his personal best clearing 1.84m (6-0.5) and Rice cleared 1.51m (4-11.5). After four events, Faust is in third place with 2,837 points and Rice scored 2,120 points sitting in 17th place.
The Pioneer men's team score places them at fifth, and the Pioneer women's team score sits at sixth place. Day two events will begin at 10am with the women's pentathlon.
