Pioneer track and field team honors 2020 seniors at UW-Platteville Invite

Platteville, Wis. – Williams Fieldhouse hosted the UW-Platteville Invitational on Saturday, Feb. 15. It was a special day as seniors were recognized for their dedication over the years to the Pioneer track and field program. Teams in attendance included Concordia, University of Dubuque, Loras College, Beloit College, Hawkeye Community College, and Clarke University. With two weeks until the WIAC Indoor Track and Field Championships, the Pioneers look to execute performances to qualify to the conference championships.

Hurdles

Two Pioneer women made it to the finals of the 60-meter hurdles. Katie Schilling ran 9.43 and placed fourth. Casey Rielly finished in sixth place with a personal best time of 9.80, a new personal best time. Six Pioneer men qualified to the finals of the 60-meter hurdles. Charlie Gifford won the event, running a season best time of 8.19 seconds. Among the other hurdlers in finals were Matt Hokanson, Sean Komro, Cole Stugelmeyer, Brett Schommer, and Jacob Rice.

Sprints

Taking sixth in the finals of the 60-meter dash, junior Gwen Orr ran a personal best time of 7.94 seconds. In the 400-meter dash, Jess Buss ran a indoor personal best time of 1:02.61 and finished in seventh place.

In the men's 200-meter dash, Gifford finished in 23.25 seconds for fourth place; senior Ryan Swanson finished in seventh place with a time of 23.80 seconds. Tonie Johnson placed 10^th in the 200-meter with a time of 24.02 seconds. Paul Rapp hit a personal best indoor time in the 400-meter, running 49.99 seconds for third place. Zach Frei followed in 50.75 seconds for fourth place. John Huntley ran a season best time in the 400-meter of 52.50, and Riley Bendorf ran just behind at 52.56 seconds.

Middle Distance and Long Distance

Senior Johanna Meister won the 800-meter race with a season best time of 2:19.08. Tyler Doering took eighth place in the men's 800-meter run, running a personal best time of 2:02.18. Brenna Kautz took second in the women's 3,000-meter with a time of 11:45.02. In the 5,000-meter, Anna Drazkowski ran a season best time of 20:47.32. In the men's 3,000-meter Lars Hay ran 9:58.92, and in the 5,000-meter Evan Krug ran a personal best time of 16:15.91.

Jumps

In the men's high jump, Bryce Bierman and Dalton Balcome cleared 1.88m (6-2). In men's long jump, Adam Wildman took third place with a jump of 6.55m (21-6). Freshman Owen Miller took tenth place with 6.19M (20-3.75). Damani White jumped 12.58 (41-3.25) in the men's triple jump. Freshman Kelli Schneider improved on her personal best mark in the women's triple jump, marking 10.48m (34-4.75).

Performances in the pole vault event showed improvement. Jordan Meciej won the women's pole vault, entering the 11-foot club. Meciej cleared 3.36m (11-0.25). Teammates Rielly and Catt Moeller also cleared personal bests, 3.06m (10-0.5) and 3.06 (10-0.5) respectively. In the men's pole vault, Alex Wright cleared a personal best bar at 4.31m (14-1.75). Jordan Monroe pole vaulted 4.16m (13-7.75), a season best jump. Micah Arellano cleared 4.01m (13-1.75), a personal best.

Throws

Rachel Beuthin took third place in women's shot put with a throw of 12.58m (41-3.25). Briana Hall threw 12.35m (40-6.25) for sixth place. Finishing in sixth place in the women's weight throw, senior Murphy Bleymeyer threw a personal best of 14.61m (47-11.25).

In the men's shot put, Cole Eastlick won the event with 14.88m (48-10). Teammates Justin Eichler, Alex Girard, Tyler Bacon, and Ben Veverka all finished within the top 8 in shot put. Girard finished second in the men's weight throw, throwing a mark of 16.47m (54-0.5). Seniors Alexander Walechka and Eastlick finished in third and fourth place respectively in the weight throw. Walechka threw 16.13m (52-11) and Eastlick threw 15.93m (52-3.25).

Relays

The women's 4 x 200-meter relay team of Schilling, Katheryn Holter, Orr, and Haley Ott ran 1:47.24 to take second place. The time was just a few seconds short of a school record time.

Taking second place as well was the men's 4 x 400-meter relay team, running a time of 3:23.31. The relay consisted of Zach Frei, Jacob Downing, Rapp, and Hokanson.

The Pioneers will travel to the University of Dubuque on Friday, Feb. 21 to compete at the UD Spartan Invitational one last time before the WIAC Indoor Championships. The WIAC Indoor Track and Field Championships will take place at UW-Oshkosh on Feb. 28 – 29.

Following the UD Spartan Invitational on Saturday, Feb. 22, a number of athletes and coaches from the Pioneer athletic teams will participate in the Polar Plunge in Oconomowoc, Wis. The UW-Platteville Athletics Polar Plunge team has raised $1,773 currently to support Special Olympics Wisconsin and their mission to provide organized sporting opportunity to special needs athletes.