Pioneers compete for personal bests at Ashton May Invitational

La Crosse, Wis. – The Pioneers competed at the Ashton May Invitational hosted at UW – La Crosse Saturday, April 6. The second meet of the outdoor season turned out several personal best marks for the Pioneers.

In the 100m dash, sophomore Zach Frei ran a personal best time of 11.17 seconds. Senior Alec Burcham ran 11.30, also a personal best time. Burcham won the 400m dash with a time of 48.60 seconds. Paul Rapp took eighth place with a time of 49.57 seconds.  

Lifetime bests were ran by Gwen Orr and Haley Ott in the 200m dash. Orr ran 26.05 seconds, and Ott ran 26.98 seconds. Senior Chenoa Stuhr ran a season best time of 26.86 seconds. In the men's 200m dash, freshman Jacob Downing ran a personal best time of 22.69 seconds.

The women's 4x100m relay team of Tina Bean, Orr, Ott, and Stuhr is on the hunt to break the school record. The relay team placed fifth at the Ashton May Invitational with a time of 49.58 seconds, a mere 0.19 seconds away from the school record.

In the 110m hurdles, five personal best times were ran by the Pioneers. Charlie Gifford won the event with a personal best time of 14.58 seconds. Matt Hokanson placed second with 14.85. Jacob DeBonis took eighth place running 15.77, Grady Rielly was ninth place with 16.10, and Cole Stugelmeyer took 10^th place with 16.19 seconds. In the women's 100m hurdles, Katie Schilling finished in second place with a personal best time as well of 14.91.

The Pioneer hurdle crew took on the 400m hurdles with poise. Schilling finished in sixth place with a time of 1:06.62. Katheryn Holter debuted in the 400m hurdles, taking 10th place with at time of 1:09.10. Hokanson finished in second place running 54.35. Sean Komro was fifth place, running a personal best time of 56.94. DeBonis crossed the line with the sixth best time, running 58.07. Freshman Grady Reilly took ninth place with a personal best of 58.77. Cole Gore followed in 10^th place with 59.30 seconds. Cody Harren and Alex Thayer were 11^th place and 12^th place, running 1:00.03 and 1:00.08 respectively.

Alex Wittmerhaus finished in ninth place with a time of 2:00.94 in the 800m run.

Two personal best times were ran in the 3,000m steeplechase. Anna Drazkowski ran a personal best time of 13.03.84. Teammates Danielle Nelson and Kirstie Ramsey ran 12:53.01 and 12:59.49, respectively. In the men's steeplechase race, Zach Klokow took fourth place with a personal best finish of 9:43.33.

Brenna Kautz finished in eighth place in the women's 5,000m run, finishing with a personal best time of 20:29.69.

In the 1500m run, Johanna Meister took second place with a time of 4:43.33. Senior Katie Wardinski placed seventh with a lifetime personal record time of 4:47.10. In the men's 1500m, Zach Lee finished in second place running a time of 3:50.94, which sits in the top 5 times nationally currently. Senior Nolan Wallenkamp took fourth place with a nearly 20-second personal best time of 3:53.61. Wallenkamp's time sits in the top 10 times nationally currently.

Brittany Ehlen finished sixth in women's pole vault, clearing 3.30m (10-10). In men's pole vault, Greg Vogt cleared 4.15m (13-7.25) and Jordan Monroe jumped 4.15 (13-7.25).

In the high jump, sophomore Lexi Stevens cleared 1.43m (4-8.25). Noah Steiner won the men's high jump, clearing 2.03m (6-8). Teammate Bryce Bierman finished in fourth place, jumping 1.88m (6-2).

In the triple jump, Zaria Walker jumped to a new personal collegiate best mark of 10.00m (32-9.25). Brian Spaeth took sixth place with a season opener jump of 12.80m (42-0). In the long jump, Bean placed 12^th with a jump of 4.70m (15-5). In the men's long jump, Drew Stanioch leaped 6.05m (19-10.25).

Freshman Ben Veverka showed a glimmer of excellence in the discus, throwing a personal best of 45.40m (148-11) for sixth place. Cole Eastlick took ninth with 43.76m (143-7), and Alex Walechka placed 12^th with 41.04m (134-8).

Eastlick took eighth place in the hammer throw, tossing a personal best mark of 48.87m (160-4). Sean Cormican took home a personal best mark in the hammer throw as well, throwing 44.25m (145-2). Eastlick and Cormican also placed in finals of shot put, throwing 14.92m (48-11.5) for fifth place and 14.65m (48-0.75) for seventh place, respectively.

Freshman Tyler Bacon threw a personal best in the javelin, taking eighth place with 43.63m (143-2). Brianna Hall threw for sixth place in the women's javelin, throwing 31.09m (102-0). Hall also took seventh in the discus, throwing 37.19m (122-0), and fourth place in the shot put with a throw of 12.95m (42-6).

Sophomore Murphy Bleymeyer finished the day with two personal best throws. One came in the discus, where Bleymeyer took sixth place with 38.60m (126-8). Another personal best throw came for Bleymeyer in the hammer throw, a toss of 40.50m (132-10). Bleymeyer also finished 10^th in the shot put, throwing 11.79m (38-8.25).

In the women's throwing events, the most impressive personal best mark came from Rachel Beuthin who threw a 5m meter personal best throw in the hammer throw. Beuthin threw 46.70m (153-2) for eighth place. Beuthin took third in the shot put with 13.35m (43-9.75) and placed 12^th in the dicus with 35.24m (115-7).

Up next, the Pioneers will host the UW – Platteville Invitational on Friday, April 12 and Saturday, April 13. The invitational will feature the hammer throw and 5,000m run on Friday night.